Proposed
sketch of
ancient
remains.
The social
state of a
people shown
by their
architectural
structures.
Mounds. &c.,
o f Babylonia.
'H ie bricks
used in their
construction
CHAPTER XIX.
ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, ETC., OF iktAN, SYRIA, AND ARABIA.
Ruins in Babylonia.—Kiln-burnt and Sun-dried Bricks.—-Construction of
the Pyramids.—Cement and Layers of Reeds.—Some Pyramids of Brick,
others of Stone.—Pyramids of Mexico, &c.—Excavations in Assyria and
elsewhere.—Great Fire Temple near Ispahan.—Singular Sepulchral
Excavations.—Ancient Causeways and RoadSifSj-Canals.—Bunds.—Dikes.
—Tunnels.—Arches.—Ancient Mines.—Rocks removed by Fire,—Phoenician
and Assyrian remains.—Tomb of Cyrus.—Ancient Writing,
Sculpture, and Painting.—Ruins of Persepolis.—Floating and Stationary
Bridges.—Cements, &c.
In the preceding volume a brief description has been given of
the countries lying between the rivers Indus and N ile ; and it
is here intended to add a sketch of the past and present state
of architecture, sculpture, &c., throughout those regions.
Since architectural remains are justly considered good
criterions of the social state of the people by whom the works
were constructed, those of Mesopotamia and Assyria which go
back to the period of the Noachian deluge, must possess considerable
interest. On approaching the site of one of the
primeval cities, the attention is attracted by what at first appears
to be a natural conical hill of considerable size, which however
proves to be the mouldering remnant of a vast building : such
a mound could not fail to be remarkable in any situation, but,
rising out of an apparently boundless plain in a transparent
atmosphere, the effect which it produces on the mind is most
striking. The celebrated plains of Dura offer few other remains
of antiquity; and none which can be compared, in magnitude
or interest, to those gigantic masses, which have been formed
by the ruins of some of the greatest works ever executed by man,
and which now serve only to guide the traveller on his way.
The alluvial district of Babylonia being without stone, it was
necessary to resort to other materials for the construction of
public and private works; and, as clay existed in abundance,
bricks were the materials chiefly employed by the builders of
that country. But it is owing to the pyramidal shape of the
edifices, rather than to any peculiar qualities of the materials,
that these monuments of early art still exist.
The Babylonian bricks were of two kinds: one kind con-, ^re either
i n l i • i i i i i i bilked or sun- sisted oi such as were burned in a kiln ; the other, and by much dried. .
the larger proportion, being simply dried by being exposed to
the sun. The former vary in size from 11 inches to 13A inches
square, and they are 31 inches deep; they are sometimes, however,
much smaller, and they are of various colours: the bricks
are chiefly cemented with common clay, but, in the quays, the Bitumeu used
n foundi at•i ons andi exteri• or parts ojf ? tih e structures that once cement.
adorned this mighty city, bitumen appears to have been ex ten-Size of the
sively used. One face of each brick had on it an inscription, bricks,
and sometimes a figure, and in some instances it is also glazed
and vitrified; and this face was placed downwards: the cement
is usually found adhering tp the upper surface.
The second, which is an inferior kind, is rather larger than
those which had been kiln-dried, being nearly 4 j inches deep,
and from 1 l j to 14 inches square; the larger ones weigh 38
pounds 11 ounces avoirdupois, and were formed of the pure
clay of the country, rendered more tenacious by being mixed ,
with a little sand, and some coarse straw or fine reeds. These
bricks, when dried by exposure to a powerful sun, soon became
sufficiently hard, and gave the means of rapidly raising a large
structure, which in so dry a climate was exceedingly durable.
The bricks at ’Akar Kuf are 1 l i inches square by 4 deep, Bricks and
* cement used placed with much regularity, and cemented with inferior clay, at’Akar Kuf.
or rather common mud; but the great singularity of this structure
consists in the introduction from side to side of layers of
reeds at short intervals, extending from top to bottom of the
huge mass. These breaks usually take place after seven rows
of bricks have been piled upon one another; that is, at intervals
of about 2 feet 11 inches, or occasionally a little more ;l and
the reeds forming these divisions are composed of three layers,
1 Some writers give nearly double, owing, as it may be presumed, to overlooking
one layer of reeds. In the author’s examination, the sides of the
mound were carefully dug, in order to determine these spaces exactly.