The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 6: Parthia: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.Rawlinson, George
History
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 6: Parthia: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.
The interior of the smaller halls had no ornament; but the larger ones
were decorated somewhat elaborately. Here the side walls were broken by
three squared pilasters, rising to the commencement of the vaulting, and
terminated by a quasi-capital of ornamental work, consisting of a series
of ovals, each oval containing in its centre a round ball of dark stone.
Underneath these quasi-capitals, at the distance of from two to three
feet, ran a cornice, which crossed the pilasters, and extended the whole
length of the apartment, consisting of flowers and half-ovals, each oval
containing a half-ball of the same dark stone as the capitals. [PLATE
IV. Fig. 4.] Finally, on the pilasters, immediately below the cornice,
were sculptured commonly either two or three human heads, the length of
each head being about two feet, and the faces representing diverse types
of humanity, some old and some young, some male and some female, some
apparently realistic, some idealized and more or less grotesque in their
accompaniments. The drawing of the heads is said to have been full of
spirit, and their general effect is pronounced life-like and striking.
The seven halls, which have been described, were divided into two
groups, of three and four respectively, by a low fence, which ran from
east to west across the inner court, from the partition wall separating
the third and fourth halls to the buildings which divided the inner
court from the outer. It is probable that this division separated the
male and female apartments. The female ornamentation of the large hall
(No. II.) belonging to the southern group is perhaps an indication of
the sex of its inmates; and another sign that these were the female
quarters is to be found in the direct communication existing between
this portion of the building and “the Temple” (No. VIII.), which could
not be reached from the male apartments except by a long circuit round
the building.
The “Temple” itself was an apartment of a square shape, each side being
about forty feet. It was completely surrounded by a vaulted passage,
into which light came from two windows at its south-west and north-west
corners. The Temple was entered by a single doorway, the position of
which was directly opposite an opening leading into the passage from
Hall No. II. Above this doorway was a magnificent frieze, the character
of which is thought to indicate the religious purpose of the structure.
[PLATE V. Fig. 1.] The interior of the Temple was without ornamentation,
vaulted, and except for the feeble light which entered by the single
doorway, dark. On the west side a portal led into the passage from the
outer air.
[Illustration: PLATE 5.]
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