313

CHAPTER XVIII.

ARCHITECTURE; ROCKS, BUILDINGS, COTTAGES, GRANARIES.-TLOS.ROCK-TOMBS. ANCIENT SCULPTURE.-MINARA, THE ANCIENT PINARA. -RUINS.-BAS-RELIEFS IN TOMBS.-HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.

April 11th.—I am again much struck on entering this undisturbed district of Asia Minor, at witnessing the unchanged customs of the people; everything tells of the ancient inhabitants of two or three thousand years ago, whose mode of life probably differed but little from that of the present pastoral people.

The annexed Plate* will show the varieties of rock-architecture, and the one following, those in the built tombs seen in Lyciat. I have selected these from my sketches made in the various cities, but placing them less thickly in the rock than they are often seen in this country, and have added figures referring to their several localities. The cottage or hut is precisely a model for a temple; and the various kinds (for all have the same character) suggest each some form or order, whose peculiarity has become classic and scientific: it is here only perpetuated, and not adopted, by the present peasants.

* Nos. 1 and 6 at Araxa; 2, 3, and 4 at Telmessus; 5 and 8 at Tlos; 7, 9, and 12 at Pinara; 10 between Limyra and Arycanda; and 11 at Limyra.

+ Nos. 1 and 8 at Telmessus; 2 and 5 at Cadyanda; 3 at Xanthus ; 4 and 6 at Sidyma; 7 at Calynda; and 9 at Araxa.

P

The storehouses, large box-like barns, in which the grain and property is preserved, are throughout this district seen, and recognized by me as precisely similar, in form and detail of apparent construction of ties and bolts, to the Elizabethan description of tombs so commonly cut in the rocks around them. These modern barns are in general slightly roofed; the gable or pediment supports a pole at each of its angles, the ends commonly protruding beyond the roof, which is of thin planks, laid one over the other, and giving at the end the effect of a cornice to the pediment, the whole of which is never so well finished as the barns beneath, and appears as a temporary covering: a slight pediment is likewise often seen accompanying this form of tomb, sculptured in the rocks. The similarity of the storehouse represented in the annexed sketch to the ancient tomb is strikingly obvious; even the beam-ends may form the ornaments protruding from the angles of the pediment.

In the various cottages, the roof, which is always of earth, is held in its form by an attic of stones; upon this roof, as I have often before mentioned, the Turks keep a roller for levelling and rendering the earth water-tight; but at the edges and on the corners, where the roller cannot press, weeds often grow luxuriantly, and this suggests the tuft-like leaf ornament so often seen in the Greek buildings rising from the edge of the roofs. The Greek generally lives in a hut built with more art and neatness, but still of a templelike form, as may be suggested by the sketch; his hut is usually whitened, while that of the Turk is of mud, imbedding stones, sticks, or straw, as circumstances offer the material. The walls never form the strength of the house, which derives its support entirely from the framework of timbers resting upon the columns or upright stems of trees on the outside; stones placed under these, to prevent their sinking into the ground, form bases, while the beams resting upon their tops appear as capitals; in front, a stone or piece

of wood is placed upon these posts, to support the ends of the beams, which are the dentils in the frieze of this simple little building.

In this portion of Asia Minor all the remains of the temples show a square chamber or cella, entered by an ornamented door of noble proportions; this is always within a portico in antis, sometimes having two columns in front. I have nowhere in Lycia seen any trace of temples that I could say with certainty were of other construction. This form is evidently seen in the huts here represented. Is it not highly probable that these sketches may represent the huts and storehouses of the people of three thousand years ago, which at an after period were imitated in stone, and their forms cut in the rocks, making the temple a large house, and the tomb a durable receptacle for the dead? Time has witnessed these changes; but the simple hut, which has served as the abode of the peasants through successive generations to the present day, has remained unaltered. This may at once explain the total absence of even the trace of the residence of the people in the ancient Greek cities, as the materials would not endure for half a century: the public buildings alone remain to point out the extent of the cities. I think this idea is borne out by the incidental testimony of history. Herodotus speaks of the houses of the people of Sardis as being of reeds and mud, and in still earlier days we know that the whole of Athens was built of wood.

Our ride of about twenty-four miles from Hoorahn to Dooveer was nearly due south; we crossed the smaller muddy river, where it is divided into several streams, and skirted the western side of the upper bay or enlargement of the valley, until it became narrowed into a mere strait by the green wooded hills flanking either range of mountains. Near this point is the village of Satala Hissá or Satala-cooe, six hours to the east of Macry. Continuing our route, in half an hour we arrived at a well-built bridge of five arches.

crossing the bold river, which had received the important addition from Hoorahn, as well as many other tributaries: from this point we crossed diagonally the again widening valley, and in half an hour passed a very considerable stream, on its course to the river, issuing from a ravine in the mountains towards the east, at the village of Koongelar. At a distance of three miles from Dooveer, in passing near a rock which protruded from the mountains, we were struck by a strong sulphury smell, and saw a rapid stream of clear water running near us, whose course was encrusted with a greenish-white deposit; this hot spring issues from the rock, and I hear that the people use its waters medicinally; on first gushing from its source they have not this smell, which exudes upon exposure to the atmosphere. The whole ride down this upper valley is beautiful, and varies continually; its scenery, on approaching the bold and Greek-like situation of the ancient city of Tlos, is strikingly picturesque. Leaving our baggage at the lower village, we at once rode up to the ancient city, on the acropolis of which many families now reside: although an hour's ride distant, it also bears the name of Dooveer, the few houses in the valley consisting only of the Aga's residence and four or five water-mills.

April 13th.-I have had more opportunity of examining the ruins of this city than on my former visit, when from inscriptions I discovered it to be the ancient Tlos. My general impressions remain the same, and further research has only confirmed my opinion as to the taste and luxurious ornament of the ancient city. I have copied many more inscriptions, principally from the tombs, which have been most costly and curious constructions. The greater number not only have their fronts architecturally ornamented, but, on entering, we found them to have a kind of lobby, the panelled framework being repeated within, and often ornamented in a richer style; some of these are still beautiful, but what must they have been when first executed, perhaps twenty

five centuries ago! Many of the letters of the inscriptions retain their varied colouring, and over the doors remnants of painted flowers and wreaths, red, green, and white, are still to be traced; but the most perfect historical information which is preserved to us respecting the ornaments of these tombs, is derived from the sculpture, which shows all the beauty of simple line and exquisite proportion of figure, and is sufficiently legible to be of the highest interest to the antiquarian and student of ancient mythology and history. I hope the sketches I have made may throw some light upon the subject.

The figures sculptured on the rock are, I have no doubt, of the same age as those accompanied by the Lycian characters, but I have again sought in vain for a single letter of that language in this city. I obtained three or four coins from the children, who gladly exchanged them for half a piastre each; but the absence of travellers makes them careless of looking for them, and many hidden treasures may still remain amidst the ruins which form hills of broken fragments of stone, and pieces of pottery and glass. Among the coins I find several silver and copper ones of the ancient city.

On the side of one of the tombs cut in the rock I observed a bas-relief representing combatants engaged, apparently without swords, and pulling at each other's shields. This. which I have observed in other places, may probably represent some of the popular games.

A tomb, sculptured high up in the rock, in the form of an Ionic temple, we found to be of great interest, and I doubt not it will be appreciated by the antiquarian and lover of ancient history and poetry: in the pediment were sculptured animals resembling panthers, but too much mutilated to be copied. On the left side, on entering the portico, was a spirited bas-relief of Bellerophon, and beneath his horse. Pegasus the vanquished Chimæra. To find this in a city in