DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29898#0197
Bk. II. Cn. II.
CHALDEAN TEMPLES.
161
The height o£ the two intermecliate storeys, instead of being 22 feet
6 inches, as we might expect, was 26, which seems to have resulted
from some adjustment due to the chambers which ranged along their
walls on two sides. The exact form and dimensions of these chambers
were not ascertained, which is very much to be regretted, as they
seem the counterpart of those which surrounded Solomon’s Temple and
the Viharas in India, and are consequently among the most interesting
peculiarities of this building.
No attempt was made to investigate the design of the upper
storey, though it does not seem that it would be difficult to do so, as
fragments of its vaulted roof are strewed about the base of the tower-
like fragment that remains, from whic-h a restoration might be effected
by any one accustomed to such investigations.1 What we do know is
that it was the cella or sanctuary of the temple.2 There probably also
was a shrine on the third platform.
This temple, as we know from the decipherment of the cylinders
which were found on its angles, was dedicated to the seven planets or
heavenly spheres, and we find it consequently adorned with the colours
of each. The lower, which was also richly panelled, was black, the
colour of Saturn; the next, orange, the colour of Jupiter ; the third,
red, emblematic of Mars ; the fourth, yellow, belonging to the sun;
the fifth and sixth, green and blue respectively, as dedicated to Yenus
and Mercury ; and the upper probably white, that being the colour
belonging to the Moon, whose place in the Chaldean system would be
uppermost.
Access to each of these storeys was obtained by stairs, probably
arranged as shown in the plan ; these have crumbled away or been
removed, though probably traces of them might still have been found
if the explorations had been more complete.
Another temple of the same class was exhumed at Khorsabad about
twenty years ago by M. Place. It consisted, like the one at Borsippa,
of seven storeys, but, in this instance, each was placed concentrically
on the one below it: and instead of stairs on the sloping face, a ramp
wound round the tower, as we are told was the case with the temple
of Belus at Babylon. The four lower storeys are still perfect : each
of them is richly panelled and coloured as above mentioned, and in
some parts even the parapet of the ramp stili remains in situ. The
1 Flandin and Coste, ‘ Yoyage en Perse,’
vol. iv. pl. 221.
2 I have ventured to restore the roof of
the cellawith. asikra(ziggur orziggurah,
according to Eawlinson’s ‘ Five Ancient
Monarchies,’ vol. 1, p. 395, et passim),
from finding similar roofs at Susa, Bag-
dad, Iveffeli, &c. They are certainly in-
V0L. I.
digenous, and borrowed from some older
type, whether exactly wkat is represented
here is not clear, it must be confessed. It
is offered as a suggestion, the reason for
wkich will be given when we come to
speak of Buddhist or Saracenic arclii-
tecture.
M
CHALDEAN TEMPLES.
161
The height o£ the two intermecliate storeys, instead of being 22 feet
6 inches, as we might expect, was 26, which seems to have resulted
from some adjustment due to the chambers which ranged along their
walls on two sides. The exact form and dimensions of these chambers
were not ascertained, which is very much to be regretted, as they
seem the counterpart of those which surrounded Solomon’s Temple and
the Viharas in India, and are consequently among the most interesting
peculiarities of this building.
No attempt was made to investigate the design of the upper
storey, though it does not seem that it would be difficult to do so, as
fragments of its vaulted roof are strewed about the base of the tower-
like fragment that remains, from whic-h a restoration might be effected
by any one accustomed to such investigations.1 What we do know is
that it was the cella or sanctuary of the temple.2 There probably also
was a shrine on the third platform.
This temple, as we know from the decipherment of the cylinders
which were found on its angles, was dedicated to the seven planets or
heavenly spheres, and we find it consequently adorned with the colours
of each. The lower, which was also richly panelled, was black, the
colour of Saturn; the next, orange, the colour of Jupiter ; the third,
red, emblematic of Mars ; the fourth, yellow, belonging to the sun;
the fifth and sixth, green and blue respectively, as dedicated to Yenus
and Mercury ; and the upper probably white, that being the colour
belonging to the Moon, whose place in the Chaldean system would be
uppermost.
Access to each of these storeys was obtained by stairs, probably
arranged as shown in the plan ; these have crumbled away or been
removed, though probably traces of them might still have been found
if the explorations had been more complete.
Another temple of the same class was exhumed at Khorsabad about
twenty years ago by M. Place. It consisted, like the one at Borsippa,
of seven storeys, but, in this instance, each was placed concentrically
on the one below it: and instead of stairs on the sloping face, a ramp
wound round the tower, as we are told was the case with the temple
of Belus at Babylon. The four lower storeys are still perfect : each
of them is richly panelled and coloured as above mentioned, and in
some parts even the parapet of the ramp stili remains in situ. The
1 Flandin and Coste, ‘ Yoyage en Perse,’
vol. iv. pl. 221.
2 I have ventured to restore the roof of
the cellawith. asikra(ziggur orziggurah,
according to Eawlinson’s ‘ Five Ancient
Monarchies,’ vol. 1, p. 395, et passim),
from finding similar roofs at Susa, Bag-
dad, Iveffeli, &c. They are certainly in-
V0L. I.
digenous, and borrowed from some older
type, whether exactly wkat is represented
here is not clear, it must be confessed. It
is offered as a suggestion, the reason for
wkich will be given when we come to
speak of Buddhist or Saracenic arclii-
tecture.
M