A ride of twenty minutes, walking our horses, brings us to the iki kube, or two tombs (Fig. 181 and see the plan, Nos. 1 and 2). They are separated by an interval of about ten yards. Let me describe, once for all, the design of such edifices, known in the country by the name of kumbet. A circular, or drum-shaped structure rests on a deep pedestal, which slopes outwards to a square base. But the four angles of the pedestal are cut away in the shape of a wedge, the point of the wedge resting on the base. The whole is surmounted by a conical roof. On the level of the ground, an arched aperture gives access to a chamber, built in the hollow of the base. In this chamber, or beneath its floor, was presumably placed a coffin; but the catafalques, if such existed, have disappeared. The ground, too, has buried the base in most cases, so that you can only just crawl through the top of the arched aperture. On the other hand, the floor of the circular structure, resting on the pedestal, is high above the ground; and, in the absence of any stairs, you are obliged to clamber up the face of the pedestal, making use of little crevices in the stones. Four open doorways, placed at regular intervals in the circumference, at once serve as entrances to the upper chamber, and as windows, through which the landscape expands on every side. It is supposed that the prospective occupant of the tomb, or the pious visitors to this place of burial, would sit and rest within this cool, circular chamber, beneath the lofty roof, enjoying the views of the country around. They would, however, have needed a ladder to reach the entrances. The interiors are quite plain; in one instance (No. 1) we observed traces of plaster; but, as a rule, there is neither ornament nor covering of the surface of the masonry, in which one admires the even joints of the blocks of faced stone. The material of these tombs is stone throughout--a pink volcanic stone. All the resources of the decorative sculptor are lavished upon the exterior, especially about the doorways, the four niches in the intervening spaces, and the cornice beneath the roof. In some cases raised stone mouldings enrich the surface of the roof. Sometimes a frieze is carried beneath the cornice, the most effective being hewn out of white marble. [236] They are inscribed with sentences from the Koran. The beautiful Arabic letters vary the effect of the elaborate geometrical patterns in the decorated spaces of the walls beneath. The personal inscriptions are usually found over the doorways; and, in some instances, are engraved upon white marble slabs. The two tombs which we are now visiting both possess such inscriptions; the khoja copied them; they are in Arabic prose. Those on the first tomb (No. 1) record that it is the burial-place of a great Emir, by name Nughatay Agha, and of the lady, wife to Nughatay. The date of his death is given as A.H. 678, or A.D. 1279. The second tomb is described as that of Hasan Timur Agha,