Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. Binder.

Their towns were generally fortified or perched on heights, rendering
them easy of defence, as, for example, Van and Toprah-Kaleh. Even such
towns as were royal residences were small, and not to be compared with
the cities of Assyria or Aram; their ground-plan generally assumed the
form of a rectangular oblong, not always traced with equal exactitude.

[Illustration: 085.jpg THE RUINS OF A PALACE OF URARTU AT TOPRAH-KALEH]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Hormuzd Rassam.

The walls were built of blocks of roughly hewn stone, laid in regular
courses, but without any kind of mortar or cement; they were surmounted
by battlements, and flanked at intervals by square towers, at the foot
of which were outworks to protect the points most open to attack.
The entrance was approached by narrow and dangerous pathways, which
sometimes ran on ledges across the precipitous face of the rock. The
dwelling-houses were of very simple construction, being merely square
cabins of stone or brick, devoid of any external ornament, and pierced
by one low doorway, but sometimes surmounted by an open colonnade
supported by a row of small pillars; a flat roof with a parapet crowned
the whole, though this was often replaced by a gabled top, which was
better adapted to withstand the rains and snows of winter. The palaces
of the chiefs differed from the private houses in the size of their
apartments and the greater care bestowed upon their decoration. Their
facades were sometimes adorned with columns, and ornamented with
bucklers or carved discs of metal; slabs of stone covered with
inscriptions lined the inner halls, but we do not know whether the
kings added to their dedications to the gods and the recital of their
victories, pictures of the battles they had fought and of the fortresses
they had destroyed. The furniture resembled that in the houses of
Nineveh, but was of simpler workmanship, and perhaps the most valuable
articles were imported from Assyria or were of Aramaean manufacture.
The temples seemed to have differed little from the palaces, at least
in external appearance. The masonry was more regular and more skilfully
laid; the outer court was filled with brazen lavers and statues; the
interior was furnished with altars, sacrificial stones, idols in human
or animal shape, and bowls identical with those in the sanctuaries on
the Euphrates, but the nature and details of the ri