Page 249 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART TWO: IHli PERIPHERAL REGIONS

Cyr“ W“ ki"S' “ “ehit"“r° a,,Cl S“lp,,:,C WC"
Much has been written on tlle origin of the Achacmenian pillared hallsftut to little
piupose. They have been derived from Median architecture, of which nothing remains 55
and from the bit-lulam, winch is different in all important respects.** The Audience Hall

0t j us y> 1S1111 mY casc’ an impressive structure, 250 feet square, with a height com­
puted at sixty feet. It is said that it could accommodate 10,000 people. The four corner
towers contained, presumably, guard-rooms and stairs. There are porticoes on three
sides, and service rooms on the fourth; the latter feature differentiates the building from
the palaces of Cyrus at Pasargadac. The western portico commanded a free view of the
plain and the sunset, for the fortress wall which stood
on the edge of the terrace was
interrupted here and replaced by a low parapet.5' The great stairways which gave access
to the separate platform on which it stood (cut from the living rock) were decorated
with the great procession of tribute bearers (Plates 181, 182, 183, and 18413).
The Throne Hall or Hall of the Hundred Columns (M) was begun by Xerxes and
finished by Artaxerxes I. It had a portico on the north side with sixteen pillars and two
huge figures of bulls as guardians at either end built into the walls of the towers. On the
other three sides it was surrounded by a narrow service passage. There arc two doors in
each wall, and seven stone-framed windows in the wall between hall and portico; in the
other walls there arc niches instead of windows.58 The insides of the doors were carved
in reliefs; those on the north and south sides showing the king enthroned; those in the
east and west sides depicting the king in combat with monsters.59 The hall stood at the
southern end of a courtyard to which a gate house, resembling the ‘ Gate of all coun­
tries 9 (K), gave access. Thus the Throne Hall was remarkably well guarded, for it was
only accessible through its portico. It has been suggested that in this hall the greatest
royal treasures were exhibited surrounding the enthroned monarch with additional
splendour at great state functions.59
In the residential palaces (I and F) we also find the portico with a double row of
columns leading into a square main room, but this is surrounded on three sides by small
chambers, as one would expect in living-quarters. At Pasargadae this type of building is

represented by ‘ Palace P \
A somewhat similar building (C) lies in front of the Harem with its twelve apart­
ments, each consisting of a square hypostyle room connected with one or two long nar­
row chambers. The main building (C) is faced across the court by a complex (C ),
which has been‘interpreted as the quarters of the guard. A flight of steps leads own into
this from the Tripylon. Since there is also a connexion between C and the Hail o
ZZCJZ

ber. Throughout we are
TSfcl- * building (B) winch is called the Treasury by d ue d ue
J=°.r!“whoIncaus by .his term Ac royal storehouse and armoury. I.»surrounded

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