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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(JULY, 1915
I
I give here a plan of Firūzâbâd, (Fig. 4.) striking for its noble simplicity. It measures 170 feet by 320 and is therefore a really large building. All the spaces shown are covered by elliptical barrel vaults, except the open court and the three square rooms which are covered by elliptical domes set on squinches. These three domes, being each 45 feet in diameter are much larger than any
COURT we have hitherto met with in Egypt or Chaldaea. The stability of the vaults is ensured, either by adjacent structures or by large voids in the thickness of the walls spanned by barrel vaulting. Dieulafoy calls these discharging chambers. (Plate 1, A.) An interesting feature in this palace is the stucco decoration, a good deal of which remains. That on the outside recalis the method used in Chaldaea, Khorsabad for example and consists of reed-like pilasters of semicircular section with panellings between. (Fig. 5.) The great archeddocrways are set in frames surmounted with the Egyptian reed cornice, which recalls those used in the Achaemenian palaces at Persepolis and Susa. (Fig. 6.) They are, however,
Fig. 5. executed in stucco being applied to the face of the wall, whereas in Achaemenian work they are always carved in the
ZEN stone. In addition to this the reed cornice, instead of commencing with a vertical rise spreads out, thus showing a later and decadent form of composition. The entire fabric is of broken stone or rubble, bound by a good mortar of lime mixed with sand.
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Fig. 6.
