mere matters of opinion have been excluded from
this handbook. A few of the topics which it has been necessary to
approach are subjects on which high authorities still more or less
disagree, and it has been impossible to avoid these in every instance;
but, as far as practicable, controverted points have been left
untouched. Controversy is unsuited to the province of such a manual as
this, in which it is quite sufficient for the authors to deal with the
ascertained facts of the history which they have to unfold.

It is not proposed here to refer to the authorities for the various
statements made in these pages, but to this rule it is impossible to
avoid making one exception. The writers feel bound to acknowledge how
much they, in common with all students of the art, are indebted to the
patient research, the profound learning, and the admirable skill in
marshalling facts displayed by Mr. Fergusson in his various writings.
Had it been possible to devote a larger space to Eastern architecture,
Pagan and Mohammedan, the indebtedness to him, in a field where he
stands all but alone, must of necessity have been still greater.

The earlier chapters of this volume were chiefly written by Mr.
Slater, who very kindly consented to assist in the preparation of it;
but I am of course, as editor, jointly responsible with him for the
contents. The Introduction, Chapters V. to VII., and from Chapter X.
to the end, have been written by myself: and if our work shall in any
degree assist the reader to understand, and stimulate him to admire,
the architecture of the far-off past; above all, if it enables him to
appreciate our vast indebtedness to Greek art, and in a lesser degree
to the art of other nations who have occupied the stage of the world,
the aim which the writers have kept in view will not have been missed.

T. ROGER SMITH.

_University College, London._
_May, 1882._

[Illustration: FRIEZE FROM CHURCH AT DENKENDORF.]

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION. 1

CHAPTER II.

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE.

Pyramids. Tombs. Temples. Analysis of Buildings. 14

CHAPTER III.

WEST ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE.

Babylonian. Assyrian. Persian. Analysis of Buildings. 43

CHAPTER IV.

ORIENTA