Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 2 of 2)

It is unnecessary to enter into a minute description of the excavated tombs and sepulchres, studding the rocky walls around Petra. The basis of the architecture, in almost all cases, is Grecian, mingled with Roman; though in many instances a style is apparent, which must be regarded as Egyptian, or rather the native style of Petra. Many of the chambers within the tombs are so immense, that their real character might be doubted; were it not for the recesses they contain, destined, it is plain, for the reception of bodies. How enormous must have been the labour and expense, necessary for the excavation of these sepulchres, some of which are large enough to stable the horses of a whole tribe of Arabs! It is impossible to conceive that such resting-places could have been appropriated to any other persons than rulers or rich men, and great, indeed, as Mr. Burckhardt remarks, “must have been the opulence of a city, which could dedicate such monuments to the memory of its rulers.” Some of the finest mausoleums, as we have already seen, are not in the main valley, but in the ravines leading from it, where their multiplicity is beyond conception. In a ravine on the north-west, M. Laborde beheld one, called by the natives El-Deir, or the Convent, of much larger dimensions than the Khasne, and, like it, sculptured out of the rock, though not in a style so perfect.

As the visitor advances into the area, he beholds in front of him one of the most splendid and beautiful objects in or around Petra, and what may justly be called one of the wonders of antiquity. This is the front of a great temple, nearly sixty-five feet in height, excavated from the solid rock, and embellished with the richest architectural decorations, all in the finest state of preservation. Six pillars, thirty-five feet high, with Corinthian capitals, support an ornamented pediment, above which stand six smaller pillars, the centre pair crowned by a vase, and surrounded by statues and other ornaments. Mere description can do no justice to this building. Near it stands a magnificent triumphal arch.

This temple is termed by the Arabs “Khasne Pharaon,” – Pharaoh’s treasure; from their supposition that here are hidden those stores which they have vainly sought for elsewhere. In the sarcastic words of M. Laborde, “It was quite in accordance with their character, after having fruitlessly spoiled the monuments inclosed in the tombs, to seek the spot where the constructor of such magnificent edifices had deposited his treasure. That spot they supposed they had found at last – it was the urn which may be distinguished on the top of the monument. This must contain all the riches of the great king; – but, unhappily, it is out of their reach, and only taunts their desire. Consequently, each time that they pass through the ravine, they stop an instant, fire at the urn, and endeavour to break it, in the hope of bringing it down and securing the treasure. Their efforts are fruitless; and they retire murmuring against the king of Giants, who has so adroitly placed his treasure 120 feet above their reach.”

The temple is hewn in an enormous and compact block of freestone, which is lightly coloured with oxide of iron. Its high state of preservation is owing to the shelter which the surrounding rocks afford it against the wind, and also in preserving the roof from the rain. The only traces of deterioration are in the statues at the base of the column, which has been produced by the humidity undermining the parts most in relief, or nearest to the ground. To the same cause may be attributed the fall of one of the columns which was attached to the front. Had the structure been built instead of being hewn, the fall of this column would have dragged down the entire building. As it is, it merely occasions a void, which does not destroy the effect of the whole. “It has even been useful,” says M. Laborde, “in so far as it enabled us, by taking its dimensions, to ascertain the probable height of the temple, which it would otherwise have been impossible to do with precision.” He calls the temple “one of the wonders of antiquity,” and apologises for the expression in the following manner: – “We are apt, doubtless, to charge the traveller with exaggeration who endeavours, by high-sounding eulogiums, to enhance the merit of his fatigues, or the value of his labours: but here, at least, plates designed with care will establish the truth of a description which might otherwise appear extravagant.”

The interior of the temple does not fulfil the expectations, created by the magnificence of the exterior. Several steps conduct to a room, the door of which is perceived under the peristyle. “Although the chamber is hewn regularly, and is in good proportion, the walls are rough, its doors lead to nothing, and the entire appears to have been abandoned while the work was yet in progress. There are two lateral chambers, one of which is irregular, and the other presents two apertures, which seem to have been hewn for two coffins.”

Captain Irby speaks of this temple in the following manner: “The position is one of the most beautiful that could be imagined for the front of a great temple, the richness and exquisite finish of whose decorations offer a most remarkable contrast to the savage scenery that surrounds it. It is of a very lofty proportion, the elevation comprising two stories. The taste is not exactly to be commended; but many of the details and ornaments, and the size and proportion of the great doorway especially, to which there are five steps of ascent from the portico, are very noble. No part is built, the whole being purely a work of excavation; and its minutest embellishments, wherever the hand of man has not purposely effaced and obliterated them, are so perfect, that it may be doubted whether any work of the ancients, excepting, perhaps, some on the banks of the Nile, have come down to our time so little injured by the lapse of ages. There is, in fact, scarcely a building of forty years’ standing in England so well preserved in the greater part of its architectural decorations. Of the larger members of the architecture nothing is deficient, excepting a single column of the portico; the statues are numerous and colossal.”

The brook of Wady Mousa, after leaving the eastern defile by which it entered, passes directly across the valley, and makes its exit by a rocky ravine on the west, almost impassable by the foot of man. On the banks of this stream are situated the principal ruins of the city. There, at least, are found those in chief preservation – for, properly speaking, the whole valley may be said to be covered with ruins.

The remains of paved-ways, bridges, and other structures, may still be seen among the other ruins of the valley. Not the least interesting object, observable in the vale, is the aqueduct which is continued from the eastern approach along the face of the rocks constituting the eastern wall of this city. This aqueduct is partly hewn and partly built, and is yet in a very perfect condition.

The only inscriptions, hitherto discovered at Petra, are two which M. Laborde met with on tombs. One of these, in Greek characters, was so much mutilated as to be unreadable, and the other, a Latin one, notified that a certain Roman consul died at Petra, when governor of Arabia.

The only living being found residing in the immediate neighbourhood of the ruins, with the exception of the reptiles that infest the excavations, was a decrepit old man, who had lived for forty years on the top of Mount Hor, an eminence at the west of Petra, where a tomb, said to be that of Aaron, is seen. The wandering Arabs, who revere the Jewish traditions, hold this place as sacred, and support its old guardian by occasional pilgrimages and contributions95.

For want of space we must here close our account; referring for a more enlarged knowledge of this celebrated “city of the desert,” to the travels of Burckhardt, Captains Irby and Mangles, and MM. Laborde and Linant. The following references lead to some of the passages, in which the fate of this city was foretold by the sacred writers96.

“I will stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it, and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger, and according to my fury, and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.” – Ezekiel, xxv. 13, 14.

“Say unto it, thus saith the Lord God, behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate, I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel, by the force of the sword, in the time of their calamity.” – Ezekiel, xxxv. 3, 4.

“The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it, the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it, and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. The thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof, and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.” – Isaiah, xxxiv. 11, 13.

“And Edom shall be a desolation; every one, that goeth by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss at the plagues thereof.” – Jeremiah, xlix. 17.

“And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau.” – Obadiah, 18.

NO. XVI. – PHIGALIA

This was a town of Arcadia, called after Phigalus. Bacchus and Diana had each a temple there, and the public places were adorned with the statues of illustrious natives. “In the forum,” says Anacharsis, “is a statue which might serve for the history of the arts. The feet are almost joined, and the pendant hands are fastened close to the sides and thighs; for in this manner were statues formerly sculptured in Greece, and thus they are still in Egypt. It was erected for the athlete Arrhacion, who gained one of the prizes in the 52nd, 53rd, and 54th Olympiads. We may hence conclude that, two centuries before our time, many statuaries still servilely followed the Egyptian taste.”

This town was situated on a high and craggy rock, near Megalopolis. Being the key, as it were, of Arcadia, the Lacedemonians laid siege to it and took it 659 B. C. In order to regain the city, the inhabitants consulted the oracle of Delphos, who directed them to select one hundred men from Orestasium to assist them. These brave persons perished; but the Orestasians, in concert with the Phigalians, attacked their enemies and routed them. The Phigalians afterwards erected a monument in honour of the one hundred men who had fallen.

There was one temple dedicated to Diana Conservatrix, in which was her statue, and another dedicated to Apollo the Deliverer.

Chandler relates, that M. Joachim Bocher, an architect of Paris, was desirous of examining a building near Caritena. He was still remote from that place, when he perceived a ruin, two hours from Verrizza, which prevented him from going further. This ruin stands on an eminence, sheltered by lofty mountains. The temple, it is supposed, was that of Apollo Epicurius, near Phigalia. It was of the Doric order, and had six columns in front. The number which ranged round the cella was thirty-eight. Two at the angles are fallen; the rest are entire, in good preservation, and support their architraves. Within them lies a confused heap. The stone inclines to grey, with reddish veins. To its beauty is added great precision in the workmanship. These remains had their effect, striking equally the mind and the eye of the beholder.

The walls of Phigalia alone remain; they were flanked with towers, both square and circular. One gate towards the east is yet covered by blocks, which approach each other like the underside of a staircase. There has been a temple, of fine limestone, of the Doric order, on which is an inscription.

Pausanias describes Phigalia as surrounded by mountains, of which one named Cotylium was distant about forty stadia, or five miles. The temple of Apollo stood on this, at a place called Bassæ.

Under the ruins of this temple, the Baron Von Stachelberg discovered, in 1812, some curious bas-reliefs, which are now in the British Museum. They were executed in the time of Pericles, the temple having been built by Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon.

These bas-reliefs, representing the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and the combat between the Greeks and Amazons, composed the frieze in the interior of the cella, in the temple of Apollo the Deliverer. The battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ is sculptured on eleven slabs of marble; that of the Greeks and Amazons occupies twelve.

Besides these there are other fragments from the same temple: – 1. A fragment of a Doric capital of one of the columns of the peristyle. 2. A fragment of an Ionic temple of one of the columns of the cella. 3. Two fragments of the tiles, which surmounted the pediments, and formed the superior moulding. 4. Fragments of metopes, found in the porticos.

The following observations lately appeared in the Times newspaper: – “In the saloon of the British Museum are the celebrated bas-reliefs, found at Mount Cobylus, near the ancient city of Phigalia, in Arcadia. They represent the battles of the Greeks and Amazons, and those of Theseus and the Lapithæ against the Centaurs. According to Pausanias, they were the work of Ictinus, a contemporary of Phidias. The grandeur of conception displayed in their composition, the variety of attitude and action shown, is not surpassed by those in the Elgin saloon, though their execution may be inferior. The combat of the Greeks and Amazons occupies twelve slabs of marble, and that of the Centaurs eleven. Both the history of the Amazons and the battle, here represented, are obscure. The origin of the name is derived from two words, ‘Ama’ or ‘Ma,’ which in all old languages signifies ‘mother’ – its ubiquity is proof of its antiquity – and the ancient name of the sun, as found in the Temple of Heliopolis, in Egypt, is ‘On,’ ‘Ton,’ or ‘Zoan;’ but that any nation of Amazons, in the vulgar acceptation of the word, ever existed, is more than problematical. Faber says that those nations, who worshipped the female principle of the world, such as the Iberians, the Cimmerians, the Mootæ, the Atalantians of Mauritania, and the Ionians, were Amazons, and a celebrated invasion of Attica by them is mentioned. We are told that Eumolphus, an Egyptian, was the leader; and Pausanias mentions an Attic victory or trophy, called an Amazonium, erected to their manes. According to Arrian, the Queen of the Amazons, on the borders of the Caspian Sea, sent ambassadors with defiance to Alexander. In the time of Pompey, they were still supposed to exist; and Dion Cassius says, that in the Mithridatic war buskins and boots were found by the Roman soldiers, undoubtedly Amazonian. The worship of the male and female deities in Greece caused peace between the sects, and the origin of their quarrel and their name was forgotten in Europe. In Asia the Persians and the Jews seem still to have formed an exception. Cambyses, in his invasion, destroyed in Egypt everything connected with the female worship; he overturned the sphinxes, but he left the obelisks untouched. The scene of the combat, depicted on these tablets, is drawn with great force and spirit: some of the Amazons have long tunics, others short vestments, only reaching to the knee; one on horseback has trousers, and loose sleeves reaching to the wrist; on the head of some is the Archaic helmet, and those without have the hair fastened in a knot on the top; they all but one wear boots, which reach to the knees; their robes are fastened with a zone; some have two belts crossed between the breasts; their arms are swords, and the double-headed Scythian battle-axe, as also spears, bows, and arrows. None of these last are preserved, they being probably of bronze, as the holes remain, and added afterwards, as was the custom with ancient sculpture; the shields are small, and of the lunar form, opening at top. The Athenian warriors have cloaks, or tunics, fastened round the neck, and tightened about the waist by a belt; it reaches no lower than the knee; the right arm is bare. In one group a fierce warrior has seized a mounted Amazon by the hair; he is dragging her from the horse, which is rearing. The action of the female figure is very fine: she firmly maintains her seat, till relieved by another; who, with uplifted axe and shield to protect her from the flying arrows, shall have brained her antagonist. The 18th slab has five figures and two horses; in one the horse has fallen, and an Athenian warrior has his right hand fixed on the throat of the Amazon, while, with the other hand, he has grasped her foot, and drags her, who seems to have lost all recollection, from the horse’s back. The position of the centre figure is very fine: he is within the guard of the shield of the Amazon, and is striking a deadly blow with his hand, in which has been a sword. In another group an Athenian has fallen; he rests on his left hand, and extends his right in supplication to the female warriors who surround him, and is in the act of surrendering, while behind him an Amazon is striking him with her battle-axe. In the sculptures of the Lapithæ and Centaurs all the warriors, with the exception of Theseus, are armed with swords, who, as an imitator of Hercules, has a club. The shields are large and circular; they have a broad border round the circumference, and resemble those of the Ephibi of Athens. Of the helmets there are four kinds – one which fits the head closely, without either crest or vizor; another with a crest, and one with guards for the ears, and a fourth with a pointed vizor. In one of the sculptures Theseus is seen attacking a Centaur; he has the head of the monster under his left arm, and with the right, which probably held a club of bronze, as the hole remains, he is destroying him. He appears to have arrived just in time to save Hippodomia, whom the Centaur has disrobed, and who is clinging to the statue of Diana. From the tiara behind, and the lion’s skin, this figure is supposed to be Theseus; the Centaur is Eurytion; a female figure is also seen pleading on her behalf, and, in the distance, a Goddess is hastening in a car drawn by stags to the rescue; this probably is Diana, as the temple was dedicated to Apollo.”

The city of Phigalia is now become a mere village, known by the name of Paolitza97.

NO. XVII. – PLATÆA

This city has long been famous; for it was in a plain near to it that was fought the celebrated battle between the Greeks and Persians98. On the evening previous to the engagement, the Grecians held a council of war, in which it was resolved, that they should decamp from the place they were in, and march to another more conveniently situated for water. Night being come on, and the officers endeavouring at the head of their corps to make more haste than ordinary to the camp marked out for them, great confusion happened among the troops, some going one way and some another, without observing any order or regularity in their march. At last they halted near the little city of Platæa.

On the first news of the Grecians being decamped, Mardonius drew his army into order of battle, and pursued them with hideous shouting and bawling of his barbarian forces, who thought they were advancing not so much in order of battle, as to strip and plunder a flying enemy; and their general likewise, making himself sure of victory, proudly insulted Artabazus; reproaching him with his fearful and cowardly prudence, and with the false notion, he had conceived of the Lacedæmonians, who never fled, as he pretended, before an enemy; whereas here was an instance of the contrary. But the general found quickly this was no false or ill-grounded notion. He happened to fall in with the Lacedæmonians, who were alone and separated from the body of the Grecian army, to the number of fifty thousand men, together with three thousand of the Tegeatæ. The encounter was exceedingly fierce and resolute on both sides; the men fought with the courage of lions, and the barbarians perceived that they had to do with soldiers, who were determined to conquer or die on the field. The Athenian troops, to whom Pausanias sent an officer, were already upon their march to their aid; but the Greeks who had taken part with the Persians, to the number of fifty thousand men, went out to meet them on their way, and hindered them from proceeding any farther. Aristides, with his little body of men, bore up firmly against them, and withstood their attack, telling them how insignificant a superiority of numbers is against true courage and bravery. The battle being thus divided, and fought in two different places, the Spartans were the first who broke in upon the Persian forces, and put them in disorder. Mardonius, their general, falling dead of a wound he had received in the engagement, all his army betook themselves to flight; and those Greeks, who were engaged against Aristides, did the same thing as soon as they understood the barbarians were defeated. The latter ran away to their former camp which they had quitted, where they were sheltered and fortified with an inclosure of wood.

The manner, in which the Lacedæmonians treated the Platæans some time after, is, also, not unworthy of remembrance. About the end of the campaign, which is that wherein Mitylene was taken, the Platæans, being in absolute want of provisions, and unable to make the least defence, surrendered, upon condition that they should not be punished till they had been tried and judged in form of justice. Five commissioners came for that purpose from Lacedæmon; and these, without charging them for any crime, barely asked them, Whether they had done any service to the Lacedæmonians and the allies in war? The Platæans were much surprised as well as puzzled at this question, and were sensible that it had been suggested by the Thebans, their professed enemies, who had vowed their destruction. They therefore put the Lacedæmonians in mind of the services, they had done to Greece in general; both at the battle of Artemesium, and that of Platæa, and particularly in Lacedæmonia, at the time of the earthquake, which was followed by the revolt of their slaves. The only reason, they declared, of their having joined the Athenians afterwards, was to defend themselves from the hostilities of the Thebans, against whom they had implored the assistance of the Lacedæmonians to no purpose: that if that was imputed to them as a crime, which was only their misfortune, it ought not however entirely to obliterate the remembrance of their former services. “Cast your eyes,” said they, “on the monuments of your ancestors, which you see here, to whom we annually pay all the honours, which can be rendered to the manes of the dead. You thought fit to entrust their bodies with us, as we were eye-witnesses of their bravery; and yet you will now give up their ashes to their murderers, in abandoning us to the Thebans, who fought against us at the battle of Platæa. Will you enslave a province where Greece recovered its liberty? Will you destroy the temples of those gods to whom you owe the victory? Will you abolish the memory of their founders, who contributed so greatly to your safety? On this occasion, we may venture to say, our interest is inseparable from your glory; and you cannot deliver up your ancient friends and benefactors to the unjust hatred of the Thebans, without eternal infamy to yourselves.”

One would conclude, that these just remonstrances would have made some impression on the Lacedæmonians; but they were biassed more by the answer the Thebans made, and which was expressed in the most bitter and haughty terms against the Platæans, and, besides, they had brought their instructions from Lacedæmon. They stood, therefore, to their first question, “Whether the Platæans had done them any service during the war?” And making them pass one after another, as they severally answered “No,” each was immediately butchered, and not one escaped. About two hundred were killed in this manner; and twenty-five Athenians, who were among them, met the same unhappy fate. Their wives, who were taken prisoners, were made slaves. The Thebans afterwards peopled their city with exiles from Megara and Platæa; but, the year after, they demolished the latter entirely. It was in this manner the Lacedæmonians, in the hopes of reaping great advantages from the Thebans, sacrificed the Platæans to their animosity, ninety-three years after their first alliance with the Athenians.