ay, which looks north,
towards the tombs, is not at the bottom of the building, but half-way up
its side, and must have been reached either by a ladder or by a flight
of steps. It leads into a square chamber, twelve feet wide by nearly
eighteen high, extending to the top of the building, and roofed in with
four large slabs of stone, which reach entirely across from side to
side, being rather more than twenty-four feet long, six feet wide, and
from eighteen inches to three feet in thickness. [PLATE LIII., Fig. 3.]
On the top these slabs are so cut that the roof has every way a slight
incline; at their edges they are fashioned between the pilasters, into
a dentated cornice, like that which is seen on the tomb. Externally they
were clamped together in the same careful way which we find to have been
in use both at Persepolis and Parsargadae. The building seems to have
been closed originally by two ponderous stone doors. [PLATE LIV., Fig.
1.]

[Illustration: PLATE LIV.]

Another remarkable construction, which must belong to a very ancient
period in the history of the country, is a gateway composed of enormous
stones, which forms a portion of the ruins of Istakr. [PLATE LIV., Fig.
2.] It has generally been regarded as one of the old gates of the city;
but its position in the gorge between the town wall and the opposite
mountain, and the fact that it lies directly across the road from
Pasargadae into the plain of Merdasht, seem rather to imply that it was
one of those fortified "gates," which we know to have been maintained by
the Persians, at narrow points along their great routes, for the purpose
of securing them, and stopping the advance of an enemy. On either
side were walls of vast thickness, on the one hand abutting upon the
mountain, on the other probably connected with the wall of the town,
while between them were three massive pillars, once, no doubt, the
supports of a tower, from which the defenders of the gate would engage
its assailants at a great advantage.

We have now described (so far as our data have rendered it possible)
all the more important of the ancient edifices of the Persians, and
may proceed to consider the next branch of the present inquiry, namely,
their skill in the mimetic arts. Before, however, the subject of their
architecture is wholly dismissed, a few words seem to be required on its
general character and chief peculiarities.

First, then, the simplicity and regularity of the style are