DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0137
THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 93
only the lower compartment with the figure-subject is left,
and that sadly mutilated — seems to combine two distinct
scenes in the same space, namely, a charioteer riding over a
prostrate foe, and under this a lion chasing an ibex. These
subjects are in singular harmony with the offerings in the
tomb which the stelae marked — many of them distinguish-
ing the dead as warriors and hunters: not to mention the
gold breastplate and sword-belt, there are at least a dozen
objects — daggers, gold goblets and gold plates — with
designs relating to the chase.
The fourth stele (from Grave II.) is laid off in three
vertical instead of horizontal compartments — the middle
one being left plain, while the two outer ones are carved
like the coils of a serpent in " a broad wave pattern " which
may be regarded as the prototype of the meander.
It is clear from their technique that the tombstones are
earlier than the lion-relief. In the latter the modeling
of the figures is really plastic, while the figures of the
stelae look as if they had been drawn on a flat board and
then relieved by cutting away or sinking the adjacent sur-
face. Thus the figures are quite flat and always lie in the
same plane with the border of the slab.
The graves, as already noted, are oblong shafts sunk in the
soft rock, but varying in size. The smallest (II.) measures
about 9 by 10£ feet, the largest (IV.) 18j by 24
feet, and the depth in the rock varies from 2 to 16
feet. These figures, however, do not represent their actual
capacity, for all the graves but one (the second) are fined
on every side with slanting stone walls, which in Grave IV.
are four feet thick at bottom, thus considerably diminishing
the available room. The walls are not carried all the way
up,—in Grave IV., as we have seen, they are 7 feet 8 inches
high, while the grave is 10 feet deep, — and they were
only the lower compartment with the figure-subject is left,
and that sadly mutilated — seems to combine two distinct
scenes in the same space, namely, a charioteer riding over a
prostrate foe, and under this a lion chasing an ibex. These
subjects are in singular harmony with the offerings in the
tomb which the stelae marked — many of them distinguish-
ing the dead as warriors and hunters: not to mention the
gold breastplate and sword-belt, there are at least a dozen
objects — daggers, gold goblets and gold plates — with
designs relating to the chase.
The fourth stele (from Grave II.) is laid off in three
vertical instead of horizontal compartments — the middle
one being left plain, while the two outer ones are carved
like the coils of a serpent in " a broad wave pattern " which
may be regarded as the prototype of the meander.
It is clear from their technique that the tombstones are
earlier than the lion-relief. In the latter the modeling
of the figures is really plastic, while the figures of the
stelae look as if they had been drawn on a flat board and
then relieved by cutting away or sinking the adjacent sur-
face. Thus the figures are quite flat and always lie in the
same plane with the border of the slab.
The graves, as already noted, are oblong shafts sunk in the
soft rock, but varying in size. The smallest (II.) measures
about 9 by 10£ feet, the largest (IV.) 18j by 24
feet, and the depth in the rock varies from 2 to 16
feet. These figures, however, do not represent their actual
capacity, for all the graves but one (the second) are fined
on every side with slanting stone walls, which in Grave IV.
are four feet thick at bottom, thus considerably diminishing
the available room. The walls are not carried all the way
up,—in Grave IV., as we have seen, they are 7 feet 8 inches
high, while the grave is 10 feet deep, — and they were