Cha?. ir. rOINTEU Alien.

123
round arch stvlf ; and IV , tlie true Gothic pointed arch, prevaHin<T ahiiost universally over
tlie whole of Eurojic till the time of the Reformation, in the 16tii century. In the East,
''arclies still are more frequently constructed hy placing the stones horizontally than in a ra-
diating position." 'i'lie history of the subject will never he correctly understood till we take
hotli kinds into account, for the second
almost certainly arose out of tlie first, 'i'lie
first example put foitii hy him is from tlie
third pyramid at Gizeh, in the roof of the
se]nilcliral chamher
{Jig. 154), consisting
rVKAMU) AT CIZKII.
CAJlriSELL'S TOMB.
only of two stones, s'.iowing how early the curvilinear form, with a point in the centre, was
used, and consequently how familiar it must have been to the architects of all ajres.
Another early form is here given from tlie tomb called
"
Campbell's Tomb,"/;/. 1.55. The
pyramids at jMeiiie, in Ethiopia, dating about 1000 to 805 years b.c, at all events being
of a period anterior to the age of the Greek and Roman influence, were discovered by
Mr. lioskins. Here, stone arches show both circular and pointed forms
(. 156);
and
Mr. Layard discovered, at Nimroud, drains with pointed vaults of the same age as thosj
at Mer()e. A tiimiiliis near Smyrna, in Asia Minor, presents an example almost a counter-
])art of that from the tl.ii d pyramid ; a gateway, near Missolonglii, is formed by the courses
of masonry jirojecting beyond one another till they meet in the centre. Other examiiks are
seen in the tomb of the Atrid;c at iNIycenie
( fys.
1 4 and 1 6,
tomb called treasury of Atrcus)
;
ill a city gateway at Arpino, in Italy ; in an aqueduct at
Tusculimi; and in a gateway at Assos, in Asia Mi-
nor (.ti(j 157). Tliis is known from the character of its
rVKAMlU AT MKKOi;.
Fig. 157. OATEWAY AT ASSOS.
masonry and other circiunstnnces to belong to the best period of Greek art, in fact to he
coeval, or nearly so, with the Parthenon. Tliese examjiles explain all tlie peculiarities oi
this mode of construction.
;505. With the appearance of Rome, this form entirely disappears from the countries to
wh:ch her influence extended, and is sup])lanted so completely hy the circular radiating
form, that not a single instance is probably kr.own of a pointed arch of any form or mode
of construction during tlie ])eriod of the Roman supremacv. The moment, however, that
her power declined, the pointed form reappears in Asia, its native scat ; and we recur to
t!ie very few that remain in Syria and Western Asia for exami)les. The first of these are
ill the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, built by Constantine the Great,
and now known as the Mosque of Omar. Its arches are throughout pointed, hut so
timidly as to he scarcely observable at first siglit. Fergusson also states the reasons for
his inability to give other specimens ; and describes the cathedr.d of Ani, in Armenia, (see
al o Donaldson, in the Civil Engineer, Sec. Journal, 184.3, p. 183) which is built with pointed
arches throughout, and contains an inscription ])roving that it was finished in the year 1010 :
he quotes M. Texier's assertion (/^esrr. de VAnuenie,fo\. I 842) that "it results that, at a time
when the pointed arch was altogether unknown, and never had been used, in Europe,
buildings were being constructed in the pointed arch style in the centre of Armenia." At
Diarbekr, Mr. Fergusson continues, "there is an extremely remarkable building, now con-
verted into a mosque
;
the Armenians call it, with much plausibility, the palace of Tlgrancs;
the friezes and cornices are executed according to the principles of Roman art of the 4tl)
century, nevertheless the pointed arch is found everywhere mixed with the ar. hitecture, as
if it were currently practised in the country." The palace at Modain, the ancient Ctesiphoii.