ARCHITECTURE, the art of building. Did we apply to this word the signification derivable from the original Greek, we should have before us a very extensive field for investigation. Custom, however, has limited the application of the term to the science of erecting artificial structures.
The origin of this department of science is involved in impenetrable obscurity. It is reasonable to expect that man, a being of acute feelings, should soon have sought out some method of protecting himself against the inconveniences to which his physical conformation rendered him obnoxious. Exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather and the variations of temperature, he must, at a very early period, have dis covered some means of shelter and security ; the method, however, which he adopted fur effecting this object is left entirely to conjecture. Various speculative opinions have been hazarded on the subject, remarkable for the most part not more for the inventive imaginations of their authors, than for the crudeness and absurdity of the speculations themselves. Vitruvius, the first writer on the subject, has given a very elaborate, if not very correct account of the contrivances of our primeval ancestors in the way of house building ; this account, strange to say, has been transmitted as an authority from time to time almost down to our own age, gathering in its progress additional strength from the names of those who have given credence to its manifold absurdities.
In considering the subject, we must not forget that man kind originally inhabited a warm climate, where the incle mency of the weather was comparatively but little felt, and where consequently there was no need of such defences as in a colder region. The chief' inconvenience arose probably from the extreme heat, a natural retreat from which was found in the shelter afforded by the luxuriant foliage of the trees. We might reasonably suppose that, as there was no necessity for a very substantial edifice, tents formed of the skins of beasts offered in sacrifice, or of other convenient substance, would have formed the primitive dwellings of mankind ; this, however, there is some reason to suppose, was not the case, as we read that Jabal was the father of such as dwelt in tents, whereas Cain had built a city sometime before Jabal's birth. What this city was, we have
no means of judging ; of its materials and its form we are alike ignorant.. The next mention made of a city in the sacred writings is that of Babylon, which was built by Nimrod ; here it was that the famous tower of Babel was commenced, in the building of which, it is stated, burnt bricks and slime (bitumen) were made use of. The same Nimrod is related to have built Nineveh and three other cities. Whether the above were the first cities that were built after the flood is left doubtful, for we find no mention in the sacred history of any Egyptian cities, yet doubtless such must have existed at a very early period ; we cannot, therefore, say for certain whether the sons of Cush or Mizraim took the precedence in such works ; nor can we tell whether the buildings seen by Ilerodotus and other pagan historians were in any part the same as those whose erection is mentioned by Moses. These, as well as all other subjects connected with the early ages of mankind, must ever remain matters of mere conjecture ; yet with respect to the latter question, it does appear sorewhat worthy of atten tion, that Ilerodotus relates having visited, situate in the midst of Babylon, a tower of vast dimensions and unusual height ; the coincidence of the two accounts is, to say the least, remarkable. If we allow the towers spoken of by the two historians to be identical, and also that the separation of mankind did not take place, at least to any extent, before the confusion of languages, we shall have no difficulty in accounting for the remarkable affinity of the Persian, Hin duo, and Egyptian architecture, especially with reference to the pyramidal form of their structures : we shall also be enabled to form some notion of the progress of mankind in this art, as well as of the nature and method of building at the period.