down, bearing a 6–lined inscription (Fig. 55), which ran thus:
“Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon,
am I. The palace, the dwelling of my kingship on the soil of Babylon (or
“the place Babil” [Delitzsch]), which is in Babylon, I built. Mighty
cedars from the mountain of Lebanon the splendid forest, I brought, and
for its ceiling I laid them. Marduk the compassionate god who hears my
prayer: the house that I built, may it satisfy him by its delights; the
Kisu that I constructed, may its decay be renewed; in Babylon may my
walks therein be continued to old age; may my posterity for ever rule
over the blackheads” (trans. by Weissbach). Thus the palace was ceiled
with cedars of Lebanon, and with exceptions to be dwelt on later, it was
not vaulted. By the Kisu the king must have meant the strengthening wall
that we have already seen on the eastern side, and that we shall see on
other parts of the surrounding walls. These 6–lined inscribed bricks, of
which we have found 80, were principally in the eastern part of the
Southern Citadel, but few are in position. Strewn over the whole of the
Southern Citadel, more especially in the central part, was a second kind
of inscribed brick, the 8–lined legend on which ran much like the
previous one (Fig. 56), but the cedars of Lebanon are not mentioned:
“Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the fosterer of Esagila and Ezida, son
of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, am I. The palace, the dwelling place
of my Majesty I built on the Babil place (irṣit Babil) of Babil. I
grounded its foundations firm on the bosom of the underworld, and with
asphalt and baked bricks I raised it mountain high. By thy behest, wise
one of the gods, Marduk, may I be satisfied with the fullness of the
house that I have built, along with my posterity. May my posterity bear
rule in it for ever over the blackheads” (trans. by Delitzsch, cf.
_K.B._ iii. 2, p. 69). Of these 8–lined bricks we have found altogether
412, many of them in the foundations of the great hall of the Principal
Court and of its great gateway. Here they were frequently laid in the
same course (Fig. 57), only separated by a few uninscribed bricks. The
script is Neo-Babylonian, and always very good and carefully executed.
The arrangement of the lines is always the same; they almost convey the
impression that a certain rhythmic utterance was intended, which was
expressed by the arrangement, for while in some lines the signs are
placed so far apart as to produce considerable gaps, in others the signs
are crowded together. The lines of inscription are separated by dividing
lines which appear to have been made by a 2–ply cord stretched across
and pressed into the pottery. Such numerous and monotonous repetitions
are very vexatious for the excavator. He would be better pleased if the
texts varied on the different bricks, and afforded him an opportunity of
acquiring more details of building achievements, and their nomenclature
and purpose. But this desire for information on the part of later
scholars was evidently not foreseen by the King of Babylon. The
principal object was to preserve the name of the king as the promoter of
mighty works, and the hundreds of inscribed bricks, and the millions of
stamped bricks do in fact form an enduring monument to the king, which
it would be difficult to surpass.
[Illustration:
FIG. 57.—Inscribed bricks _in situ_, Southern Citadel.
]
According to these inscriptions the Southern Citadel stands on the
“Babil place,” and in my opinion that is the site of the earliest
settlement, which was named Babilu or Babilani, the gate of god or gate
of the gods. At that time Esagila was separate from Babylon. It was
later, though at a very early date, that both were united in one great
Babylon. Later on, however, Esarhaddon, on one of the bricks found by
us, says (No. 38940) that he built “Babylon and Esagila” anew, and on
the numerous bricks of his Arachtu wall (No. 30522) Nabopolassar calls
himself “the restorer of Esagila and Babylon.” The measurements of 190
metres broad by 300 metres long are amply sufficient for those very
ancient cities. The acropolis of Tiryns, with its length of 150 metres
and breadth of 50 metres, could be placed inside the eastern part of the
Southern Citadel, which comprises the eastern court with its two
gateways, and stretches from the northern to the southern wall. The 6th
level of Troy, the Mycenaean level, is also considerably smaller than
the southern acropolis, with its 130 × 180 metres; its two ancient
encircling walls measure only 80 × 110 metres and 100 × 110 metres. Thus
on the _irṣit_ of Babylon there is certainly sufficient room for an
ancient settlement of the size usual at that very remote period. Esagila
lay 800 metres away, and therefore we must not imagine that from the
beginning Babylon and Esagila formed a combined township. On the other
hand, it is quite possible that when they were first founded, the
entrance to the sacred place Esagila was completely dominated by the
fortress Babil, and that it was only through this _god’s door_ that
access could be obtained to Esagila.
These conditions may have been modified quite early, possibly by the
beginning of the historical times. In Merkes, as far back as Hammurabi,
we certainly find fully developed houses in straight streets, which we
have excavated and which show a remarkably wide expansion of the town.
The Hammurabi period, the 3rd millennium, is the oldest so far attained
by our excavation. Of the prehistoric existence of Babylon we only find
the evidence of flints and other stone implements, which owing to the
continuous occupation of this site and the frequent disturbance of the
soil, have been raised to the levels accessible to us.
We will once more return to the Southern Citadel and examine the Eastern
Court. It is paved with Nebuchadnezzar’s bricks, which became chipped
and damaged, and was then restored. The level was slightly raised above
the old pavement, which was covered with an even wash of asphalt, and on
the piled-up material a new flooring was laid of fine tiles almost
exactly 50 centimetres square, that bear Nebuchadnezzar’s stamps on one
edge. The vertical joints are filled with gypsum mortar and no asphalt
is used. Thus the pavement could be sprinkled and kept pleasantly moist,
for the burnt tiles absorb the moisture readily while the underlying
wash of asphalt prevented its penetrating to the foundations.
Whether the walls of the court were left uncovered, or whether they had
a coat of plaster, we do not know. We know that the gateways at any rate
were decorated with the coloured enamelled bricks with lions, which are
found in all the courts. The inner chambers were covered with a fine
plaster of pure gypsum laid on over a thicker coating of gypsum. In the
chamber of the eastern gateway there is still a piece of this remaining,
where the ancient wall is protected by the accumulated earth of the
raised level of the floor.
[Illustration:
FIG. 58.—Base of column, Southern Citadel.
]
In the court we found the base of a column (Fig. 58) and a capital of
fine white limestone. The base has the same bowl-shaped form and the
circular leaf ornament, with a contour of fillets, as the base of Kalach
(Nimrud). The capital is severely damaged, but the circular drum can
still be recognised, as well as two projecting masses which appear to be
the remains of two bulls’ heads, similar to those on the capitals of
Persepolis. The fragments lay on a pile of rubbish 1 metre high, and
must therefore have been removed here after the palace was destroyed. It
is possible that the base belonged to the round circular pedestal in
front of the Ishtar Gate near the north-west bastion. In the court
itself there is no place whatever for a column. It is in the vaulted
building (see p. 99) alone that we can imagine columns to have been
used.
XIII
THE CENTRAL COURT OF THE SOUTHERN CITADEL
The central court (M on Fig. 46) is entered by a doorway, similar to the
eastern gate. Here, however, both the adjoining rooms have a
side-chamber connected with them by a wide opening without any door, and
with the large adjoining houses by a door. Here we see clearly the idea
of a government bureau. These gateway chambers I am disposed to regard
as courts of justice, where the judge occupied the side-chambers, which
could only be reached from the house, while the litigants made use of
the gateway chambers, which could be reached both from the courts and
from the gateways. In the Old Testament the gateways are represented as
places for administering justice. We have no proof, however, of a
similar use of our gateway chambers.
Here, again, the southern house is exceptionally spacious, with its two
courts (21 and 22) and a large hall opening on the central court. It
must certainly have belonged to the highest state officials. Behind the
great hall there are three chambers, much like courts, which with their
respective side-chambers may have served for the administration of
public business. From here, as well as from the adjoining house, which
also comprised a number of rooms round 23, there was direct
communication, only interrupted by many doors, with the royal private
offices on the western side.
On the north was a house with two courts (13 and 14) and two business
offices opening on to the central court, and six one-court houses (15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20). Unfortunately we do not know the purpose of the
long large chamber near court 13. In the adjoining office there is a
walled well, an unusual feature in a house.
The paving of the court is similar to that already described, even to
the repaving by Nabonidus, who covered the older flooring with his
stamped paving blocks 50 centimetres broad.
XIV
THE VAULTED BUILDING
From the north-east corner of the central court a wide passage leads to
a building in the north-east corner of the Southern Citadel, which from
every point of view occupies an exceptional place among the buildings of
the Citadel and even of the whole city—one might almost say of the
entire country.
Fourteen cells, similar in size and shape, balance each other on the two
sides of a central passage, and are surrounded by a strong wall. Round
this slightly irregular quadrangle runs a narrow corridor, of which the
far side to the north and east is in large measure formed of the outer
wall of the Citadel, while other ranges of similar cells abut on it to
the west and south. In one of these western cells there is a well which
differs from all other wells known either in Babylon or elsewhere in the
ancient world. It has three shafts placed close to each other, a square
one in the centre and oblong ones on each side, an arrangement for which
I can see no other explanation than that a mechanical hydraulic machine
stood here, which worked on the same principle as our chain pump, where
buckets attached to a chain work on a wheel placed over the well. A whim
works the wheel in endless rotation. This contrivance, which is used
to-day in this neighbourhood, and is called a _dolab_ (water bucket),
would provide a continuous flow of water. We will speak later of the use
to which we presume it to have been put.
The ruin (Fig. 59) lies completely below the level of the palace floor,
and is the only crypt found in Babylon. It was approached from the upper
passage by steps of crude brick faced with burnt brick that led into one
of the southern chambers.
[Illustration:
FIG. 59.—The Vaulted Building, from the south-west.
]
All the chambers were vaulted with circular arches (Fig. 60). The arches
consist of numerous ring courses, separated from each other by level
courses (Fig. 61), exactly as in the eastern door of the Citadel.
[Illustration:
FIG. 60.—Arches of the Vaulted Building.
]
We must here observe the difference that exists between arches,
underground vaulting, and outstanding vaulting. The wall in which the
arch is placed provides it with the necessary abutments; there are no
difficulties to encounter in its construction, and we meet with it in
the earliest times, at Nippur and Fara as early as the invention of
writing. In Fara there is an underground canal which consists of actual
arches placed close together; in Babylon and Assur there are underground
vaults which certainly date back to the year 1000. Such vaultings are
easily constructed, for the earth in which they are buried affords the
necessary abutments. But the case is very different when the vaulting
has to be carried from one free standing wall to another. Then the
building has to be so constructed that the thrust of the vaulting is
counterbalanced by the walls themselves. This distinct advance appears
to have been first attempted, or at any rate planned, in Mesopotamia by
Nebuchadnezzar. Certainly, no house vaulting older than ours on the
Southern Citadel has been found in Mesopotamia, roofing as it does a
huge connected complex of chambers. The vaultings asserted by Place to
be over the chambers at Khorsabad are, without exception, absolute
inventions. Sargon was only acquainted with the arch in the wall, which,
as we have already seen, is not a noteworthy achievement, and with the
sloping courses employed in forming the arched roofing of a canal. Those
Assyrian-Babylonian palaces were entirely roofed with wooden beams, like
the cedars of Lebanon of our Southern Citadel. It is possible that the
throne-room of the principal court was vaulted, but that is not certain.
The vaulted building shows clear signs of tentative and inexperienced
work in the arrangement of the vaulting. It consists merely of simple
barrel-vaults, and there is, of course, no cross vaulting, cupola, or
any arrangement of the kind. The thrust of the central chambers is on
the north against the strong Citadel wall, and on the south against the
outer row of chambers vaulted in the other direction (Fig. 62).
[Illustration:
FIG. 61.—Abutments of arches of the Vaulted Building.
]
Further observation of the ground-plan shows that the central chambers
with the same span as the outside row have thicker walls. The only
explanation for this must be that the former were more heavily weighted
than the latter, a supposition which is corroborated by the expansion
joints that surround them, by which the vaulting itself is disconnected
from the wall surrounding it on all four sides. Owing to this the whole
of the 14 barrel-vaultings could move as freely upwards or downwards
within the enclosing quadrangle as the joint of a telescope. In this
respect the vaulted building is unique among the buildings of Babylon,
and in another respect also it is exceptional. Stone was used in the
building, as is proved by the numerous fragments, shapeless though they
now are, that are found in the ruins. In excavating this makes a far
deeper impression than the mere report can do.
[Illustration:
FIG. 62.—Section through the Vaulted Building.
]
There are only two places where hewn stone occurs in any large
quantity—in the Vaulted Building and on the north wall of the Kasr, and
it is remarkable that in all the literature referring to Babylon,
including the cuneiform inscriptions, stone is only mentioned as used in
two places, in the north wall of the Kasr and in the hanging gardens.
The Street and the Euphrates bridge, where stone was also used, do not
come under consideration here. Add to this, that the ruins themselves,
as well as the written evidence, only speak of one single building that
differed from the others to a striking extent, the vaulted building of
the Kasr and the κρεμαστὸς κῆπος; and therefore I consider them to be
identical.
That the identification when studied in detail bristles with
difficulties, will surprise no one who has more than once had to bring
ancient statements of facts into accordance with discoveries of the
present day. We can always rejoice when they agree in the main points.
For the convenience of readers I will here give extracts from the
ancient writers who describe the hanging gardens.
1. Berosus in Josephus, _Antiq. Jud._ x. 11: Ναβουχοδονόσορος ...
τειχίσας ἀξιολόγως τὴν πόλιν καὶ τοὺς πυλῶνας κοσμήσας ἱεροπρεπῶς
προσκατεσκεύασε τοῖς πατρικοῖς βασιλείοις ἕτερα βασίλεια ἐχόμενα
αὐτῶν· ὧν τὸ μὲν ἀνάστημα καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν πολυτέλειαν περισσὸν ἴσως ἂν
εἴη λέγειν, πλὴν ὡς ὄντα μεγάλα καὶ ὑπερήφανα συνετελέσθη ἡμέραις
πεντεκαίδεκα. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς βασιλείοις τούτοις ἀναλήμματα λίθινα
ἀνοικοδομήσας καὶ τὴν ὄψιν ἀποδοὺς ὁμοιοτάτην τοῖς ὄρεσι καταφυτεύσας
δένδρεσι παντοδαποῖς ἐξειργάσατο, καὶ κατεσκεύασε τὸν καλούμενον
κρεμαστὸν παράδεισον, διὰ τὸ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ ἐπιθυμεῖν τῆς οἰκείας
διαθέσεως, ὡς τεθραμμένην ἐν τοῖς κατὰ Μηδίαν τόποις.
2. Ktesias in Diodorus, ii. 10: Ὑπῆρχε δὲ καὶ ὁ κρεμαστὸς καλούμενος
κῆπος παρὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, οὐ Σεμιράμιδος ἀλλά τινος ὕστερον Σύρου
βασιλέως κατασκευάσαντος χάριν γυναικὸς παλλακῆς· ταύτην γάρ φασιν
οὖσαν τὸ γένος Περσίδα καὶ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι λειμῶνας ἐπιζητοῦσαν
ἀξιῶσαι τὸν βασιλέα μιμήσασθαι διὰ τῆς τοῦ φυτουργείου φιλοτεχνίας τὴν
τῆς Περσίδος χώρας ἰδιότητα. (2) Ἔστι δ’ ὁ παράδεισος τὴν μὲν πλευρὰν
ἑκάστην παρεκτείνων εἰς τέτταρα πλέθρα τὴν δὲ πρόσβασιν ὀρεινὴν καὶ
τὰς οἰκοδομίας ἄλλας ἐξ ἄλλων ἔχων, ὥστε τὴν πρόσοψιν εἶναι
θεατροειδῆ. (3) Ὑπὸ δὲ ταῖς κατεσκευασμέναις ἀναβάσεσιν ᾠκοδόμηντο
σύριγγες, ἅπαν μὲν ὑποδεχόμεναι τὸ τοῦ φυτουργείου βάρος, ἀλλήλων δὲ
ἐκ τοῦ κατ’ ὀλίγον ἀεὶ μικρὸν ὑπερέχουσαι κατὰ τὴν πρόσβασιν· ἡ δ’
ἀνωτάτη σῦριγξ οὖσα πεντήκοντα πηχῶν τὸ ὕψος εἶχεν ἐφ’ αὑτῇ τοῦ
παραδείσου τὴν ἀνωτάτην ἐπιφάνειαν συνεξισουμένην τῷ περιβόλῳ τῶν
ἐπάλξεων. (4) Ἔπειθ’ οἱ μὲν τοῖχοι πολυτελῶς κατεσκευασμένοι τὸ πάχος
εἶχον ποδῶν εἴκοσι δύο, τῶν δ’ ἐξόδων ἑκάστη τὸ πλάτος δέκα· τὰς δ’
ὀροφὰς κατεστέγαζον λίθιναι δοκοί, τὸ μὲν μῆκος σὺν ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς
ἔχουσαι ποδῶν ἑκκαίδεκα, τὸ δὲ πλάτος τεττάρων. (5) Τὸ δ’ ἐπὶ ταῖς
δοκοῖς ὀρόφημα πρῶτον μὲν εἶχεν ὑπεστρωμένον κάλαμον μετὰ πολλῆς
ἀσφάλτου, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πλίνθον ὀπτὴν διπλῆν ἐν γύψῳ δεδεμένην, τρίτην
δ’ ἐπιβολὴν ἐπεδέχετο μολιβᾶς στέγας πρὸς τὸ μὴ διικνεῖσθαι κατὰ βάθος
τὴν ἐκ τοῦ χώματος νοτίδα. Ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις ἐσεσώρευτο γῆς ἱκανὸν βάθος,
ἀρκοῦν ταῖς τῶν μεγίστων δένδρων ῥίζαις· τὸ δ’ ἔδαφος ἐξωμαλισμένον
πλῆρες ἦν παντοδαπῶν δένδρων τῶν δυναμένων κατά τε τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὴν
ἄλλην χάριν τοὺς θεωμένους ψυχαγωγῆσαι. (6) Αἱ δὲ σύριγγες τὰ φῶτα
δεχόμεναι ταῖς δι’ ἀλλήλων ὑπεροχαῖς πολλὰς καὶ παντοδαπὰς εἶχον
διαίτας βασιλικάς· μία δ’ ἦν ἐκ τῆς ἀνωτάτης ἐπιφανείας διατομὰς
ἔχουσα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐπαντλήσεις τῶν ὑδάτων, ὄργανα δ’ ὧν ἀνεσπᾶτο
πλῆθος ὕδατος ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, μηδενὸς τῶν ἔξωθεν τὸ γινόμενον συνιδεῖν
δυναμένου. Οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ παράδεισος, ὡς προεῖπον, ὕστερον
κατεσκευάσθη.
3. Strabo xvi. 1, 5: διόπερ τῶν ἑπτὰ θεαμάτων λέγεται καὶ τοῦτο
(_i.e._ the walls of Babylon) καὶ ὁ κρεμαστὸς κῆπος, ἔχων ἐν τετραγώνῳ
σχήματι ἑκάστην πλευρὰν τεττάρων πλέθρων· συνέχεται δὲ ψαλιδώμασι
καμαρωτοῖς, ἐπὶ πεττῶν ἱδρυμένοις κυβοειδῶν ἄλλοις ἐπ’ ἄλλοις· οἱ δὲ
πεττοὶ κοῖλοι πλήρεις γῆς, ὥστε δέξασθαι φυτὰ δένδρων τῶν μεγίστων, ἐξ
ὀπτῆς πλίνθου καὶ ἀσφάλτου κατεσκευασμένοι καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ ψαλίδες
καὶ τὰ καμαρώματα. ἡ δ’ ἀνωτάτη στέγη προσβάσεις κλιμακωτὰς ἔχει,
παρακειμένους δ’ αὐταῖς καὶ κοχλίας, δι’ ὧν τὸ ὕδωρ ἀνῆγον εἰς τὸν
κῆπον ἀπὸ τοῦ Εὐφράτου συνεχῶς οἱ πρὸς τοῦτο τεταγμένοι. ὁ γὰρ ποταμὸς
διὰ μέσης ῥεῖ τῆς πόλεως σταδιαῖος τὸ πλάτος· ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ ὁ
κῆπος.
4. Curtius Rufus, _Hist. Alex._ V1: Super arcem, vulgatum Graecorum
fabulis miraculum, pensiles horti sunt, summam murorum altitudinem
aequantes multarumque arborum umbra et proceritate amoeni. Saxo pilae,
quae totum opus sustinent, instructae sunt, super pilas lapide
quadrato solum stratum est patiens terrae, quam altam iniciunt, et
humoris, quo rigant terras: adeoque validas arbores sustinet moles ut
stipites earum VIII cubitorum spatium crassitudine aequent, in L pedum
altitudinem emineant frugiferaeque sint, ut si terra sua alerentur. Et
cum vetustas non opera solum manu facta, sed etiam ipsam naturam
paulatim exedendo perimat, haec moles, quae tot arborum radicibus
premitur tantique nemoris pondere onerata est, inviolata durat, quippe
XX [pedes] lati parietes sustinent, XI pedum intervallo distantes, ut
procul visentibus silvae montibus suis inminere videantur. Syriae
regem Babylone regnantem hoc opus esse molitum memoriae proditum est,
amore conjugis victum, quae desiderio nemorum silvarumque in
campestribus locis virum conpulit amoenitatem naturae genere hujus
operis imitari.
It would lead us too far afield were I to attempt here to emphasise all
the points that weigh for or against my contention; I may safely leave
the decision to time. According to Berosus, the hanging gardens must
have been on the Kasr, as he places them in a formal and detailed manner
in the area of the buildings by which Nebuchadnezzar enlarged the palace
of Nabopolassar. The Principal Citadel may also be taken into
consideration in this connection, and the question can only be settled
by excavation. A difficulty that is apparently serious lies in the
length of the side of the quadrangle, which is given by Strabo and
Diodorus as 4 plethra (about 120 metres). On examining the central
building we find this is exactly four times its actual measurement, and
any one who holds fast by these figures will naturally reject my
hypothesis. I have been too often misled by ancient statements of
measurements to treat this information as conclusive, and as in the case
of Herodotus’ statements with reference to the town walls, I consider it
possible that the length and breadth have been confused with the
circumference. The central building rested on the 16 walls that
supported the vaults, and on the 4 walls surrounding them, 20 in all.
Thus a non-philologist might readily conclude that the text of Curtius
quoted above, “Haec moles ... durat, quippe XX lati parietes sustinent,”
can be correct without the addition of “pedes” inserted between _XX_ and
_lati_. The 10– to 11–foot span of the vaults can be seen to-day in the
ruins in approximate accordance with the statement of Diodorus and
Curtius. I would attach little importance to any of these details, and
lay stress only on the main facts. Our authors here speak of a building,
with characteristics completely different from all others, and precisely
similar to those of the vaulted building. It is possible to reconstruct
what has perished from their description and from the evidence of the
ruins in more than one way.
Either the central portion towered high above the upper storey which, in
any case, we must suppose to have been above the outer series of vaulted
chambers, or else the vaulted roof of the central chambers directly bore
the layer of earth in which the trees were planted, thus forming an
inner garden court on the ground level. In the latter case the
surrounding corridor wall can be regarded as having served as the
foundation for the columns or pillars of which the base found in the
Eastern Court (p. 89) may have formed part. A court planted with trees,
connected with pillared halls, would show such a striking analogy with
the festival house of Assur (_M.D.O.-G._ No. 33, Fig. 8) that one might
be tempted to recognise in the vaulted building _E-sigiši_ the “house of
offerings for the exalted festival of Marduk, lord of the gods”
(_Steinplatten_ inscription, 3, l. 7), were it not that some
difficulties seem for the present to forbid it. The practical result of
the whole arrangement was, no doubt, to neutralise to the greatest
possible extent the oppressive heat of summer.
The entire building was roofed over, and the central part corresponds
with the courts of other houses except that it is ceiled. The roof is
protected by an unusually deep layer of earth. The air that entered the
chambers, the διαίτας βασιλικάς of Diodorus, through the leaves of the
trees must have been delightfully cooled by the continuous watering of
the vegetation. Possibly the palace officials did a great part of their
business in these cool chambers during the heat of summer. At the
present time, in the Turkish government offices, the window is hung with
a frame composed of two pieces of wide-meshed trellis work of palm
leaves between which a layer of _agul_ is fixed. Agul is a prickly
desert plant with a great power of retaining water. This is continually
sprinkled, and as the wind blows through it, cools the room to a very
remarkable degree, at the same time darkening it, but this is not
objected to by the clerks, as especially in summer the people are
contented with very little light.
In any case the building was intended to be much in use, for two doors
in the south wall lead to it, and the passage from the central court is
unusually wide. The crypt below shared fully in the advantage of
security from heat. The remains of the vaulted portions show that at all
times it must have been very dark, and can therefore hardly have been
used except as a storehouse for all manner of goods, a use for which the
numerous uniform chambers are well adapted. The large number of tablets
found in the stairway chamber on the south side also point to this use,
as the inscriptions on them relate to grain.
The protection of the roof from the permeation of moisture, as described
by Greek and Roman authors, agrees well with what we know of the
practice of the ancient architects. A layer of reeds and asphalt was
placed over a strong roofing of hewn stone, part of which has been found
in the ruins, and above this rested two courses of bricks laid in
mortar. A lead covering again separated these from the deep layer of
earth placed on the top.