The Portals of Persian architecture, however, bear witness to a devel opment different from the Chaldmo-Assyrian. There we have an arch springing immediately over the bulls' heads, so that these beasts seem to bear the arch. Here the piers rise higher, so that the creatures are but a decoration applied to the lower part of the jambs. In a portal at Per sepolis nearly 5 metres feet) wide and 14 metres (46 feet) high these beasts measure only 6 metres (nearly feet) to the crown of the head. A huge lintel spans the opening, and a great Egyptian-like coved cornice finishes the architecture of the upper part of the doorway. The remains consist only of columns and door-jambs (figs. II. 12).
The assumption that the walls—the massiveness of which is evident from the plan of the piers—were either of baked bricks, or, more probably, of sun-dried bricks whose friable material has been con verted into earth, is more likely than that human hands have borne away huge blocks of stone. There is nothing to prove that windows occurred in the manner shown by Fergusson ill his restoration (fig. 1.). It seems more probable that the light came through the clere-storey, of whose existence the superstructure of the hall carved in relief upon the royal tomb may give a hint, and also found entrance through the halls and • doors of the courts. It is evident that the interiors of the rooms not only were resplendent with metallic plates and drapery, but were also clothed in rich colors. Even the exterior of the existing ruins shows every where traces of color.
we put together all that we certainly know concerning the architectural monuments of the various Asiatic peoples, we must see in them the works of one widespread common culture, even though there were notable differences of race between the peoples. Though of gigantic proportions, they lacked that expression of majestic solemnity, that undisturbed dignified repose, which characterizes Egyptian monuments. With all their size, they seem a fantastic play, and the tent of the nomad is perceptible even in the works of the latest period. Thence are derived the unsubstantial materials, the varied modes of application of unburnt brick, and the use of wood plated with metal.
The first and most ancient period of this architecture-we might almost say of this civilization—was that of the Chaldman Kingdom in the second thousand years B. C. ; the second was that which developed among the Phoenicians previous to the year moo B. C. ; the third, that of the Assyrian Kingdom from moo to 70o B. C. ; the fourth, that of Babylonia and Media in the sixth century B. C.; and the last, that of Persia from the second half of the sixth century to the time of Alexander the Great, under whose successors Grecian culture replaced the indigenous civiliza tion. Yet many elements outlasted the Greek domination, and many which are prevalent to-day go back to that early time. But Egyptian art may have had some influence upon the development of the native styles before the last period, and in that period, under the Persians, Hellenic art may have been influential.