Phoenicia and Lesser interme diaries between Asiatic peoples, the Egyptians and the Greeks were the Cypriotes, Phoenicians and Lycians. It is possible that from Cyprus the Greeks borrowed the volute form in Ionic archi tecture, for it appears in the decorative patterns of pottery and Steles from Cyprus. The Phoe nicians were purveyors of art. They developed that which was merchantable and produced quantities of objects, bronze, gold, terra cotta, glass and textiles. Little remains to-day of the military, civil or religious construction of this people. The military and civil constructions by which their cities were rendered almost im pregnable seem to have been inspired by the Hittites, and the temple form, the general scheme of which constituted a cella divided into two parts and surrounded by a Te menos, was adapted from Egyptian sanctua ries, through the Hebrew mediation. The Hebrews did not originate a new style of archi tecture, and being prohibited by their religion from making graven images, •never developed a sculptural proficiency." They, nevertheless, occupy a most noteworthy place in the history of the world's art because the plans for their places of worship form the link between the temples of Egype and the shrines of Greece.
developed a serious art, in its earlier forms, constructed in wood; in its later phase these earlier types were translated into stone. Typical Lycian examples entirely of a mortuary character are to be found at Antiphellus, Myra and Telmissits in Asia Minor.
Phrygia.-- The Phrygian Empire was at its height about 700 B.C. and occupied the plateau of Asia Minor. Many of the monuments that have been characterized as Phrygian are either original. Hittite works or Phrygian construc tions designed in the manner and style of the earlier art. Among the Phrygians, semi-bar baric wanderers and dwellers in tents, was the desire to fashion their tombs in the form of their earthly domiciles. This led to the representation of the patterned tent cover ing as a tomb facade decoration. The most interesting example of this design is known as the Tomb of Midas near Sivrihissar.
It is probable that the early Lydians were a division of the Phrygians. In Lydia as well as Caria the conical tumulus is the characteristic form for monumental tombs. Developed in Asia Minor and transmitted through the medium of the Etruscans, Rome utilized the tumulus as the chief element for some of her most monumental efforts. The original inspiration for the Roman form which achieved its greatest expression in the noble Pantheon, the wonder of Roman construction, is to be found in the tumulus constructions erected by the early inhabitants of Thrace and Asia Minor.
lEgean.— While the early civilizations of the Egyptians and Hittites were developing, about the eastern Mediterranean there was formally established a great controlling empire which we have come to know as the Minoan.
Recent explorations at Cnossus and Phrstus in Crete, and exploration of the Ionian Islands and the islands of the lEgean, various parts of the Peloponnesus and northern parts of Greece, have established the fact that Crete was the centre of the civilization whose wide ramifica cations extended from Egypt and Mesopotamia to the west shores 'of the Adriatic, Sardinia, Sicily and Spain. iEgean or Minoan art is divided into three periods, the first or early Minoan period comprised a semi-barbaric stone age civilization and a bronze age period. The close of the era is believed to have been about 2000 B.C. The middle Minoan period (2200 1400 n.c.) was the age of the early palace build ing. Wall painting was developed and the manufacture of fine faience was established. The first palaces at Cnossus and Phastus were destroyed previous to 1850 a.c. The later palaces at these two sites were rebuilt and re modelled previous to 1400 B.C. There seems to have been no architectural group arrangement for the Minoan palace plan. Expediency and utility characterize the general arrangement. Numerous courts and confusedly arranged passages occur. In some portions one story was superimposed on another. A remarkable feature is the great staircase running through three stories. What appears to have been a theatral area, a paved court with banks of steps on two sides for the use of spectators, is a nota ble feature. The employment of a monumental stairway by the Minoans initiated a monumen talstructural feature that does not appear again until the Roman era. A knowledge of sanitary construction is evidenced by the exhumation of pottery drain tile. The appre ciation of structural and sanitary systems, adapted to the needs of the Minoan civilization, established the existence of an architectural style which, for utility, was remarkable and in every way was superior to the clumsy ex perimentations of the dark ages which inter vened between its use and the establishment of the classic periods of Greece and Rome. The late Minoan period reached its culmination about the time of the 18th dynasty of the new Egyptian Empire and is remarkable for a widespread building activity throughout the 2Egean. The citadel palaces at Mycena and Tiryns belong to this period. The arch in its true form was not used by the Minoans hut cor beled walls were used for the passages in the enclosing ramparts of the Tiryns citadel and the corbeled vault in circular form was employed in several tombs at Mycena and Orchomenos. At times the Minoan builders relieved stone lintels of superimposed weight by constructing above the lintel a false arch. The Gate of the Lions at Mycena is an instance of this construction.