DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0029
xxvm INTRODUCTION
-which covered them would not have shed water. The fiat
clay roof was not only more secure, but it offered still other
advantages; and hence it is to this day in full use in many
parts of the East. That it was also usual in old Greek
times, we know from occasional references in the literature
as well as from representations in art; for example, the
temple and fountain on the Frangois vase.
The Greek gable roof, especially as we see it on the
Greek temple, "was an invention of the Corinthians. They
did not (as is often thought) invent the pediment, for with
the pitched roof that came of itself; but their important
service consisted in the invention of terra-cotta roof-tiles.
Not till these tiles were available could the roof receive
that pitch which was usual in ancient times. At first this
gable roof was employed only for temples and public build-
ings, and it was only after the production of tiles was
cheapened that they came to be used for roofing ordinary
houses.
But do not the chamber-tombs excavated by Tsountas at
Mycenae, with their ceilings hewn gable-wise in the rock,
make against the flat house-roof? By no means. The
rock in which these tombs are hewn is a siliceous conglom-
erate so brittle as to put horizontal ceilings practically out
of the question. Indeed, as it is, the ceilings and door
frames in many of the graves have actually fallen in. No
doubt, the architects of the Mycenaean age, whose techni-
cal knowledge (as displayed, for example, in the great bee-
hive tombs) commands our admiration, knew well that in
such rock a sloping roof holds better than a fiat one.
Indeed, in ceiling over the chambers in the walls of Tiryns
they observed the same principle. Hence I do not think
that the gabled ceiling of these rock-hewn tombs war-
rants any inference as regards the form of the timber
-which covered them would not have shed water. The fiat
clay roof was not only more secure, but it offered still other
advantages; and hence it is to this day in full use in many
parts of the East. That it was also usual in old Greek
times, we know from occasional references in the literature
as well as from representations in art; for example, the
temple and fountain on the Frangois vase.
The Greek gable roof, especially as we see it on the
Greek temple, "was an invention of the Corinthians. They
did not (as is often thought) invent the pediment, for with
the pitched roof that came of itself; but their important
service consisted in the invention of terra-cotta roof-tiles.
Not till these tiles were available could the roof receive
that pitch which was usual in ancient times. At first this
gable roof was employed only for temples and public build-
ings, and it was only after the production of tiles was
cheapened that they came to be used for roofing ordinary
houses.
But do not the chamber-tombs excavated by Tsountas at
Mycenae, with their ceilings hewn gable-wise in the rock,
make against the flat house-roof? By no means. The
rock in which these tombs are hewn is a siliceous conglom-
erate so brittle as to put horizontal ceilings practically out
of the question. Indeed, as it is, the ceilings and door
frames in many of the graves have actually fallen in. No
doubt, the architects of the Mycenaean age, whose techni-
cal knowledge (as displayed, for example, in the great bee-
hive tombs) commands our admiration, knew well that in
such rock a sloping roof holds better than a fiat one.
Indeed, in ceiling over the chambers in the walls of Tiryns
they observed the same principle. Hence I do not think
that the gabled ceiling of these rock-hewn tombs war-
rants any inference as regards the form of the timber