DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29898#0247
Bk. II. Ch. IY.
PEBSIAN AKCHITECTUBE.
211
tumulus, a staircase of even greater dimensions than the well-known
example of Persepolis. Mr. Loftus’s researches had already proved
that the palace consisted of a central hall of- thirty-six columns, with
three porticoes of twelve columns, similar, therefore, to the great hall of
Xerxes. M. Dieulafoy’s discoveries have shown that the central hall
was enclosed with a wall, thus confirming the late Mr. Fergusson’s
theory as to the restoration of the palace of Xerxes (see p. 206). On
the east side leading to the royal entrance of t-he great hall, M.
Dieulafoy discovered the remains of the great frieze of archers
(Wooclcut No. 99), now in the Louvre; these were executed in bright
enamelled colours on beton bricks. The figures, which are about 5 ft.
in height, are modelled in low relief, arrayed in processional order,
each man grasping a lance in his hand and carrying, slung on his
shoulder, a bow and quiver full of arrows. The shape of each man’s
dress is the same, but the colours and patterns alternate; in one
case the dress is studded with rosettes, in the other with squares
containing the earliest heraldic device known, a representation of
three towers on a hill.
These enamels, as also those of the lions and of fragments of the
crenelated staircase, are now all in the Louvre, and retain sufficient of
their pristine effect to suggest a scheme of colour and of decorative
treatment of the greatest beauty.1 The inscriptions round the bases
of the pillars had already informed us that the hall was erected by
Darius and Xerxes, but repaired and restored by Artaxerxes Mnemon,
who added the inscriptions. This has been confirmed by another in-
scription under the lions on the pylons ; these M. Dieulafoy attributes
to Xerxes, as fragments of enaruelled bricks of burnt clay, and not
beton, and therefore of an earlier building, have been utilised as a
filling-in. In all probability the hall of this palace is the identical hall
in which the scenes described in the Book of Esther took place. The
foundations of other parts of this palace might be no doubt laid bare
by further excavations ; but the ruin of the place has been so com-
plete, that little of interest in an architectural point of view can be
looked for. Below these Persian ruins are probably buried the remains
of long-preceding dynasties, which deeper excavations would lay bare,
and which would in all probability afford a rich harvest to the
historical explorer.
1 M. Dieulafoy’s -work on the Acropolis
of Susa has just (1893) appeared, but, so
far as the palace is concerned, his dis-
coveries do not add mueh to our know-
ledge. He appears to have arrived at
the conclusion that the great hall (which
in plan resembles that of the palace of
Xerxes—Woodcut 94) was not enclosed
on the south side, but was left open to
the court in the same way as the great
reception halls of the later Parthian and
Sassanian kings at A1 Hadlir, Firouzabad,
and Ctesiphon.
P
9
PEBSIAN AKCHITECTUBE.
211
tumulus, a staircase of even greater dimensions than the well-known
example of Persepolis. Mr. Loftus’s researches had already proved
that the palace consisted of a central hall of- thirty-six columns, with
three porticoes of twelve columns, similar, therefore, to the great hall of
Xerxes. M. Dieulafoy’s discoveries have shown that the central hall
was enclosed with a wall, thus confirming the late Mr. Fergusson’s
theory as to the restoration of the palace of Xerxes (see p. 206). On
the east side leading to the royal entrance of t-he great hall, M.
Dieulafoy discovered the remains of the great frieze of archers
(Wooclcut No. 99), now in the Louvre; these were executed in bright
enamelled colours on beton bricks. The figures, which are about 5 ft.
in height, are modelled in low relief, arrayed in processional order,
each man grasping a lance in his hand and carrying, slung on his
shoulder, a bow and quiver full of arrows. The shape of each man’s
dress is the same, but the colours and patterns alternate; in one
case the dress is studded with rosettes, in the other with squares
containing the earliest heraldic device known, a representation of
three towers on a hill.
These enamels, as also those of the lions and of fragments of the
crenelated staircase, are now all in the Louvre, and retain sufficient of
their pristine effect to suggest a scheme of colour and of decorative
treatment of the greatest beauty.1 The inscriptions round the bases
of the pillars had already informed us that the hall was erected by
Darius and Xerxes, but repaired and restored by Artaxerxes Mnemon,
who added the inscriptions. This has been confirmed by another in-
scription under the lions on the pylons ; these M. Dieulafoy attributes
to Xerxes, as fragments of enaruelled bricks of burnt clay, and not
beton, and therefore of an earlier building, have been utilised as a
filling-in. In all probability the hall of this palace is the identical hall
in which the scenes described in the Book of Esther took place. The
foundations of other parts of this palace might be no doubt laid bare
by further excavations ; but the ruin of the place has been so com-
plete, that little of interest in an architectural point of view can be
looked for. Below these Persian ruins are probably buried the remains
of long-preceding dynasties, which deeper excavations would lay bare,
and which would in all probability afford a rich harvest to the
historical explorer.
1 M. Dieulafoy’s -work on the Acropolis
of Susa has just (1893) appeared, but, so
far as the palace is concerned, his dis-
coveries do not add mueh to our know-
ledge. He appears to have arrived at
the conclusion that the great hall (which
in plan resembles that of the palace of
Xerxes—Woodcut 94) was not enclosed
on the south side, but was left open to
the court in the same way as the great
reception halls of the later Parthian and
Sassanian kings at A1 Hadlir, Firouzabad,
and Ctesiphon.
P
9