DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0095
54 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
in such a way is simply impossible, for if the whole building
was to be provided with one single-ridged roof, the height
at its centre would be far too high; but if you make sev-
eral, then there must be gutters between, which could not
be made water-tight with rushes. . . . There remains the
covering with clay. Every clay roof must be nearly hori-
zontal if the first heavy shower is not to wash down the
whole covering. On the great epistyles or girders came
the rafters proper, either separated or close together, like
the round timbers on the facade of the beehive tombs or
in the lions' relief at Mycenae. In the former case the
intervals were bridged with cross-pieces of wood; in the
latter rushes were sufficient to afford a close bed for the
clay. We must assume that the whole roof, as is still
commonly the case in the East, was covered with a thick
layer of elay."
In the case of the Great Hall, the roof problem was com-
plicated with that of lighting, and was probably solved by
the application of the clerestory principle. " The arrange-
ment of the four inside pillars and of the great hearth in
their centre appears to me [says Dr. Dorpfeld] to point to
there having.been some aperture in the middle of the hall.
It might be assumed that the whole square between the pil-
lars was open ; but so large an aperture, even in the southern
climate of Tiryns, would have made the hall temporarily
uninhabitable in winter. It would answer much better to
cover the square included by the pillars, after the manner
of a basilica with a higher roof; in the vertical walls of the
upper structure (clerestory) smaller or larger apertures could
be introduced, through which not only light would enter
into the megaron, but also the smoke from the hearth
would find an easy escape. If we assume this kind of light-
ing, it follows that the roof was constructed by laying two
in such a way is simply impossible, for if the whole building
was to be provided with one single-ridged roof, the height
at its centre would be far too high; but if you make sev-
eral, then there must be gutters between, which could not
be made water-tight with rushes. . . . There remains the
covering with clay. Every clay roof must be nearly hori-
zontal if the first heavy shower is not to wash down the
whole covering. On the great epistyles or girders came
the rafters proper, either separated or close together, like
the round timbers on the facade of the beehive tombs or
in the lions' relief at Mycenae. In the former case the
intervals were bridged with cross-pieces of wood; in the
latter rushes were sufficient to afford a close bed for the
clay. We must assume that the whole roof, as is still
commonly the case in the East, was covered with a thick
layer of elay."
In the case of the Great Hall, the roof problem was com-
plicated with that of lighting, and was probably solved by
the application of the clerestory principle. " The arrange-
ment of the four inside pillars and of the great hearth in
their centre appears to me [says Dr. Dorpfeld] to point to
there having.been some aperture in the middle of the hall.
It might be assumed that the whole square between the pil-
lars was open ; but so large an aperture, even in the southern
climate of Tiryns, would have made the hall temporarily
uninhabitable in winter. It would answer much better to
cover the square included by the pillars, after the manner
of a basilica with a higher roof; in the vertical walls of the
upper structure (clerestory) smaller or larger apertures could
be introduced, through which not only light would enter
into the megaron, but also the smoke from the hearth
would find an easy escape. If we assume this kind of light-
ing, it follows that the roof was constructed by laying two