he platform, retaining often, in spite of the
effects of time, an elevation of sixty feet.

The capitals of the pillars were of three kinds. Those of the side
colonnades were comparatively simple: they consisted, in each case, of
a single member, formed, in the eastern colonnade, of two half-griffins,
with their heads looking in opposite directions [PLATE XLVII, Fig. 2];
and, in the western colonnade, of two half-bulls, arranged in the
same manner [PLATE XLVII., Fig. 3]. The capitals of the pillars in the
northern colonnade, which faced the great sculptured staircase, and
constituted the true front of the building, were of a very complex
character. They may be best viewed as composed of three distinct
members--first, a sort of lotos-bud, accompanied by pendent leaves;
then, above that, a member, composed of volutes like those of the Ionic
order, but placed in a perpendicular instead of a horizontal direction;
and at the top, a member composed of two half-bulls, exactly similar to
that which forms the complete capital of the western group of pillars.
The pillars of the groat central cluster had capitals exactly like those
of the northern colonnade.

The bases of the colonnade pillars are of singular beauty. Bell-shaped,
and ornamented with a double or triple row of pendent lotus-leaves, some
rounded, some narrowed to a point; they are as graceful as they are rare
in their forms, and attract the admiration of all beholders. Above them
rise the columns, tapering gently as they ascend, but without any swell
or entasis. They consist of several masses of stone, carefully joined
together, and secured at the joints by an iron cramp in the direction of
the column's axis. All are beautifully fluted along their entire length,
the number of the incisions or flutings being from forty-eight to
fifty-two in each pillar. They are arcs of circles smaller than
semicircles, thus resembling those of the Doric, rather than those of
the Ionic or Corinthian order. The cutting of all is very exact and
regular.

There can be little doubt but that both the porches, and the
great central pillar-cluster, were roofed in. The double-bull and
double-griffin capital are exactly suited to receive the ends of beams,
which would stretch from pillar to pillar, and support a roof and an
entablature. [PLATE L., Fig.1.] We may see in the entrances to the royal
tombs the true use of pillars in a Persian building, and the character
of the entablature which,