a more ancient record has been read on the monuments of Egypt, and dug out of the bowels of the earth in Assyria.

It is nevertheless true that the decipherment of the hieroglyphics on the one hand, and the reading of the arrow-headed characters on the other, have disclosed to us two forms of civilisation anterior to that which reappeared in Greece in the 8th century before Christ. Based on those that preceded, it developed itself there with a degree of perfection never before seen, and in its own peculiar department never since surpassed.

These discoveries have been of the utmost importance, not only in correcting our hitherto narrow views of ancient history, but also as explaining much that was obscure, or utterly unintelligible, in those histories with which we were more immediately familiar. We now, for the first time, comprehend whence the Greeks obtained their arts and civilisation, and how far the character of these was affected by the sources from which they were derived.

Having already described the artistic forms of Egypt and Assyria, it is not difficult to discover the origin of almost every idea, and of every architectural feature, that afterwards was found in Greece. To comprehend her arts, it is necessary to bear in mind that Greece was inhabited by two distinct and separate races, the one aboriginal, as far as we know, which, for distinction's sake, may be called Pelasgic, a race which not only spread over Greece, but Etruria and Asia Minor, and before the war of Troy was generally the dominant race in all these countries. In Greece their power became extinct with the return of the Heraclide to the Peloponnese in the 11th century B.C. In Etruria they retained their supremacy till dispossessed by the Romans; and in Asia they never were, strictly speaking, superseded, though under Grecian influence their civilisation took a form widely different from what we find in the earlier ages.

The other, or Dorian race, may have existed in Greece from the earliest ages, but only superseded the Pelasgi politically about 10 centuries before Christ; but their civilisation took no new artistic form for at least 3 centuries afterwards, at which time what we know as the true Grecian form of art first made its appearance.

Architecturally these two races may be distinguished, the one as an Ionic, the other as a Doric race. We may feel sure that the Pelasgic race prevailed wherever the Ionic order is found; and the Doric order, in like manner, marks the exact degree of prevalence of the other race in the places where it exists.

Sparta may be considered as the head-quarters of the Doric, Arcadia of the Ionic races. In Athens they seem to have been nearly equally mixed, and in other states in varying proportions.

As in all countries and in all ages down to the present day, the Doric race, which was identical with, or at least closely allied to, the Teutonic, seems to have been far better adapted for the arts of war and self-government than for the softer arts of poetry and peace. The Pelasgi, on the other hand, as connected with the Celtic or Tartar races, seem to have had a peculiar facility in elaborating beauty, the

nicest perception of poetic elegance, and the justest appreciation of all that constitutes true artistic beauty of form and colour.

Thus the poetry of Arcadia was unknown in the neighbouring state of Sparta; but the Doric race there remained true to their institutions, and spread their colonies and their power further than any other of the little principalities of Greece. The institutions of Lycurgus could never have been maintained in Athens; but, on the other hand, the Parthenon was as impossible in the Lacedemonian state. Even in Athens art would not have been what it was without that happy admixture of the two races, mingling the common sense of the one with the artistic feeling of the other, so as to produce the most brilliant intellectual development which has yet dazzled the world with its splendour.

PELASGIC ART.

As might be supposed, from the length of time that has elapsed since the Pelasgic races held rule in Greece, and the numerous changes that have taken place in that country since their day, their architectural remains are few, and comparatively insignificant. Another cause that has contributed to this is, that, like the Assyrian and other cognate Asiatic races, they were not temple-builders. Places of worship they of course had, but slight and ephemeral as compared with those of their successors. From what we read in Homer, and should guess from their affinities, their palaces and dwellings, though remarkable for their extent and luxuriousness, were principally composed of wood, which has perished, and of metal, which afforded too tempting a bait to the plunderer to be allowed long to remain where it was. It thus came to pass that, if it were not for their tombs, their city walls, and their works of civil engineering, such as bridges and tunnels-in which they were pre-eminent-we should hardly now possess any material remains to prove their existence, or mark the degree of civilisation to which they had reached.

195.

Section and Plan of Tomb of Atreus at Mycena. Scale of section 50 ft. to 1 in.;

plan 100 ft. to 1 in.

The most remarkable of these remains are the tombs of the kings of Mycena. The Dorians described these as treasuries, as they looked upon such halls as far more than sufficient for the narrow dwelling

S

of the tomb. The most perfect and the largest of them now existing is known as the treasury or tomb of Atreus at Mycenæ, drawn to the usual scales in plan and section in the annexed woodcut. The principal chamber is 48 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and is, or was when perfect, of the shape of a regular equilateral pointed arch, a form well adapted to the mode of construction, which is that of horizontal layers of stones, projecting the one beyond the other, till one small stone closed the whole, and made the vault complete.

As before explained (page 73 et seqq.), this was the form of dome

196.

afterwards adopted by the Jaina architects in India, and it prevailed wherever a Pelasgic race is found, down to the time when the pointed form again came into use in the middle ages, though it was not then used as a horizontal, but as a radiating arch.

On one side of this hall is a chamber cut in the rock, the true sepulchre apparently, and externally is a long passage leading to a doorway, which, judging from the fragment that remains (woodcut No. 196), must have been of a purely Asiatic form of art, and very unlike anything found after this age in Greece.

Internally the dome was apparently lined with plates of brass or bronze, some nails of which are now found there; and the holes in which the nails were inserted are still to be seen all over the place. Another of these tombs, erected by Minyus at Orchomenos, seems to have been, from the description of Pausanias, at least 20 ft. wider than this one, and proportionably larger in every respect. All these were covered with earth, and many are now probably hidden which a diligent search might disclose. It is hardly, however, to be hoped that an unrifled tomb may be discovered in Greece, though numerous examples are found in Etruria. The very name of treasury must have excited the cupidity of the Greeks; and as their real destination was forgotten, no lingering respect for the dead could have held back the hand of the spoiler.

As domes constructed on the horizontal principle, these two are the largest of which we have any knowledge, though there does not seem to be any reasonable limit to the extent to which such a form of building might be carried. When backed by earth, as

these were, it is evident, from the mode of construction, that they cannot be destroyed by any equable pressure exerted from the exterior.

The only danger to be feared is, what is technically called, a rising of the haunches; and to avoid this it would be necessary, where large domes were attempted, to adopt a form more nearly conical than that used at Mycenæ. This might be a less pleasing architectural feature, but it is constructively a far better one than the form of the radiating domes we generally employ.

It is certainly to be regretted that more of the decorative features of this early style have not been discovered. They differ so entirely from anything else in Greece, and are so purely Asiatic in form, that it would be exceedingly curious to be able to restore a complete decoration of any sort. In all the parts hitherto brought to light, an Ioniclike scroll is repeated in every part and over every detail, rather rudely executed, but probably originally heightened by colour. Its counterparts are found in Assyria and at Persepolis, but nowhere else in Greece.

The Pelasgic races soon learnt to adopt for their doorways the more pleasing curvilinear form,

with which they were already familiar from their interiors. The annexed illustration (woodcut No. 197) from a gateway at Thoricus, in Attica, serves to show its sim plest and earliest form; and the next, from Assos, in Asia Minor, of a far more modern date, shows the most complicated form it took

Greece.

in ancient times. In this last in- 197. Gateway at Thoricus. From Dodwell's stance it is merely a discharging

arch, and so little fitted for the purpose to which it is applied, that we can only suppose that its adoption arose from a strong predilection in favour of this shape.

Another illustration of Pelasgic masonry is found at Delos (woodcut No. 199), consisting of a roof formed by two arch stones, at a certain angle to one another, as in Egypt, and is further interesting as being associated with capitals of pillars formed of the front part of bulls, as in Assyria, pointing again to the intimate connexion that existed between Greece and Asia at this early period of her history.

In all these instances it does not seem to have been so much want of knowledge that led these early builders to adopt the horizontal in preference to the radiating principle, but a conviction of its greater durability, and also, perhaps, a certain predilection for an ancient mode.

In the construction of these walls they adhered, as a mere matter of taste, to forms which they must have known to be inferior to others. In the example, for instance, of a wall in the Peloponnesus (woodcut No. 200), we find the polygonal masonry of an earlier age actually

placed upon as perfect a specimen, built in regular courses, or what is technically called ashlar work, as any to be found in Greece; and on the other side of the gateway at Assos (woodcut No. 198) there exists a semicircular arch, shown by the dotted line. It is constructed horizontally, and could only have been copied from a radiating arch.

Their city walls are chiefly remarkable for the size of the blocks of stone, and for the beauty with which their irregular joints and courses are fitted into one another. Like most fortifications, they are generally devoid of ornament, the only architectural features being the openings. These are interesting, as showing the steps by which a peculiar form of masonry was perfected, which, in after ages, led to important architectural results.

One of the most primitive of these buildings is a nameless ruin existing near Missolonghi (woodcut No. 201). In it the sides of the opening are straight for the whole height, and, though making a very