DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8755#0111
IOO
A. J. Evans
in the paved causeway first mentioned, which in its Westward descent cuts
this flight of steps diagonally. A central entrance way communicating
with a broad causeway running due South further breaks this Southern
flight into two divisions. The section East of this entrance for the greater
part of its extent shows six tiers of low seats or steps; that to the West,
50 far as it is preserved, only three. A remarkable feature of the Western
section is a barrier along its top border, consisting of low tiers with narrow
openings between them separating it from the upward course of the cause-
way beyond.1 Another feature of this Eastern section was the gradual
decrease of the depth of the tiers of steps or low seats as they ascended.
The lowest was 80 centimetres, and the depth of the other five follows in
decreasing order, 70, 63, 56, and 45. The top row may have been
reserved for children. The mean height or tread of the steps is 18 centi-
metres ; higher by almost a third than the steps of the Eastern flight.
At the central entrance, in place of the two uppermost tiers of steps,
there are substituted slabs of limestone with a slight incline, while four
lower gradations are preserved. West of this entrance, as already noticed,
•only the three lowermost tiers are continued. These were traceable in
this direction for a distance of nearly four metres, but beyond this point had
been completely destroyed by later structures.
How far did they originally extend ? A clue to the answer is given
by the fact that the outside causeway in its Westward descent would
have cut into the uppermost of the three tiers at a point about 6 metres
West of the entrance, a distance which approximately squares with the
width of the Eastern section of the steps. At this point moreover the
line which would have been reached by the Western section thus pro-
longed is crossed by a line of wall. That the upper part of the wall in its
existing state is of somewhat later construction is clear from the fact that
it was carried over the paved causeway. But there is distinct evidence
that this wall was partly built on an older foundation, and its North end, in
fact, terminates in a gypsum pier of good masonry which seems to have
' The system consists of blocks of limestone alternating high and low. The best preserved of
the higher blocks is that against the bastion, the other being much weathered and worn away.
The thickness of the construction is only 36-40 centimetres. The first ' pier' is 60 centimetres in
length : then follows a lower block 67 centimetres long ; then two higher blocks 70 and 72 centi-
metres in length respectively with an interval of 45 between them which seems to have been
originally filled. Beyond this, apparently there was another lower interval followed by a
similar longer 'pier.' The higher blocks were at most 37 centimetres high and the lower 12
centimetres.
A. J. Evans
in the paved causeway first mentioned, which in its Westward descent cuts
this flight of steps diagonally. A central entrance way communicating
with a broad causeway running due South further breaks this Southern
flight into two divisions. The section East of this entrance for the greater
part of its extent shows six tiers of low seats or steps; that to the West,
50 far as it is preserved, only three. A remarkable feature of the Western
section is a barrier along its top border, consisting of low tiers with narrow
openings between them separating it from the upward course of the cause-
way beyond.1 Another feature of this Eastern section was the gradual
decrease of the depth of the tiers of steps or low seats as they ascended.
The lowest was 80 centimetres, and the depth of the other five follows in
decreasing order, 70, 63, 56, and 45. The top row may have been
reserved for children. The mean height or tread of the steps is 18 centi-
metres ; higher by almost a third than the steps of the Eastern flight.
At the central entrance, in place of the two uppermost tiers of steps,
there are substituted slabs of limestone with a slight incline, while four
lower gradations are preserved. West of this entrance, as already noticed,
•only the three lowermost tiers are continued. These were traceable in
this direction for a distance of nearly four metres, but beyond this point had
been completely destroyed by later structures.
How far did they originally extend ? A clue to the answer is given
by the fact that the outside causeway in its Westward descent would
have cut into the uppermost of the three tiers at a point about 6 metres
West of the entrance, a distance which approximately squares with the
width of the Eastern section of the steps. At this point moreover the
line which would have been reached by the Western section thus pro-
longed is crossed by a line of wall. That the upper part of the wall in its
existing state is of somewhat later construction is clear from the fact that
it was carried over the paved causeway. But there is distinct evidence
that this wall was partly built on an older foundation, and its North end, in
fact, terminates in a gypsum pier of good masonry which seems to have
' The system consists of blocks of limestone alternating high and low. The best preserved of
the higher blocks is that against the bastion, the other being much weathered and worn away.
The thickness of the construction is only 36-40 centimetres. The first ' pier' is 60 centimetres in
length : then follows a lower block 67 centimetres long ; then two higher blocks 70 and 72 centi-
metres in length respectively with an interval of 45 between them which seems to have been
originally filled. Beyond this, apparently there was another lower interval followed by a
similar longer 'pier.' The higher blocks were at most 37 centimetres high and the lower 12
centimetres.