( 553 ) Some more Palaces other than at Persefous. Study of the ruins at Persepolis has familiarized us with the spirit and the methods of Persian architecture. It has permitted us to restore the more important edifices which the Achcemenidae built as seats of royalty. The historian divides the art of the powerful empire into three distinct types, represented severally by the open throne-room, the walled throne-room, and the inhabited palace. There was no great necessity to proceed further. On reflection, however, we deemed it expedient to throw in a few remarks in relation to very similar remains which have been discovered at various other places of the territory, but which are not calculated to alter in any essential the notion we have gained of the royal buildings, nor will they add any novel feature to the sum of our knowledge. Within these limitations it is fair to say that they are not devoid of interest ; they serve to show that the official art of the Achaemenid dynasty, from its birth to its dying day, was one and the same. It may have assigned,, in localities, greater or less prominence to this or that' material, replaced — ^in Susiana for instance — ^bas-reliefs carved on stone by sculptures oq enamelled clay, yet without prejudice to the form, which remained unaltered. If a certain number of edifices exhibit plans which cannot wholly be unravelled, dispositions which baffle* our ingenuity, the bases of columns, shafts, capitals, and figures, uniformly arranged, are precisely alike everywhere. Let us take Istakhr as an instance, a town which preserved considerable importance down to mediaeval times, and outlived, therefore, many centuries the palaces on the platform.' Fragments of columns and of capitals, both complex and simple, are found at many a point of the site representing the old city (Fig. 103, c),' clearly proving that more than one building at Istakhr was coeval with the Persepolitan exemplars, although one alone has left vestiges of sufficient magnitude to be identified with a palace (Fig. 103, a).* 1 After the Arab conquest the inhabitants of Istakhr, fervent fire-worshippers, rebelled several times against their new masters, and in the course of these turmoils caused by insurrections, the town must have greatly suffered ; but it was not finally destR^red and abandoned until the tentii century a.]x, during the wan which laid waste Pmia in the reign of Samsan-ed-Daulah (BAitB»R ds Mkvmaro^ IHet. Mist, d Utter, de la Peru, p. 49).
- Flandin and Coste, Perst ofteuniUt Plate LXI. p. 69.
a A Digitized by Google
