HISTOllY OF ARCHITECTURE I'OOK f.

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From north to south tlie extent is (JOO paces (
I'125 ft.
),
and 390 (802 ft. ) from west to
past to the nuMintain on tlie south side, liaving no stairs on that sitle
;
average height ahoiit
18 ft. 7 in. On the north side it is
'1
10 paces (926 ft.) from east to west, and the wall is
21 ft. high in some i)laces. At tiie north-west corner of the wall, ahout 80 paces in extent
westward, are some rocks before the i)rinci))al staircase. On mounting the steps there is
found a large platform 400 paces in extent towards the mountain. Along the wall on three
^TT,
sides a p;.vement ex-
^
tends for a width of
8 ft. The i)rincipal
staircase A
(Jic/-
2,'5.
)
is not ])laced in the
middle of the west
side, but nearer to
the north. It has a
double flight, the dis-
tance between the
flights at the bot-
tom being -42 ft., and
the width of them is
25 ft. 7 in. The stejjs
are 4 in. high, anti
14 in. wide. Fifty-
five of them remain
on the north side,
and fifty-three on
the south
;
and it is
probable that some
are buried by the
ruins. The half
S])aces at the top o(
the first flight are
5\ ft. 4 in. wide. The upper flights are separated from the lower by a wall which runs
through at the u))per landing. The upjier flights are in forty-eight steps, and are cut out
of single blocks of the rock. The uiijjer landing is seventy-five feet between the flights.
48. Forty-two feet from the landing, at R, are two large portals and two columns
(originally
four). The bottom of the first is covered with two blocks of stone, which fill
two thirds of the space
;
the other third having l)een destroyed by time. 'l"he second jior-
tal is more covered by the earth than the first, by five feet. 'I'hey arc 22 ft. 4 in. deej),
and 13 ft. 4. in. wide. On the interior side-faces of their piers, and nearly the whole
length of them, are large figures of bulls, cut in bas-relief. Tlie heads of these animals are
entirely destroyed
;
and their bre.ists and fore feet project from the \ncrs : the two of the
first portal face to the staircase, and those of the other face towards the mountain. On the
upper part of the piers there are some arrow-headed characters, too small to be made out
from below. The remains of the first ])ortal are
39 ft. high, and of the second 28 ft. The base
of the ))iers is 5 ft. 2 in. high, and j)rojects in-
wards
;
and the bases ilpon which the figures
^ stand are 1 ft. 2 in. high. We may here ob-
1^ serve that the figures on the further portal have
the body and legs of a bidl, an enormous ])air
of wings
(Ji(/.
24.
)
projecting from tiie shoulders,
and the heads looking to the east show the faces
1=2
of men. On the head is a cylindrical diadem,
:'-S
on both sides of which horns are clearlv repre-
5 sented winding from the brows ui)wards to the
;#
front of the crown
;
the whole being surmounted
^3 with a sort of coronet, formed of a range of
=
leaves like the lotus, and bound with a fillet
- carved like roses. The two columns (at Sir R.
K. Porter's visit only one remained) are the
most ])erfcct among the ruins, and are 54 ft.
high. At the distance of fifty-two feet south.
eastward from the second portico is a water-
trough ctit out of a single stone 20 ft. long and
17 ft. 5 in. broad, and standing 3 ft. high from
the ground. From hence to the northern wall of the platform is covered with fragments
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and the remains of one column not channelled as the others arc
;
this is 12 ft. 4 in. high.
T PEltSKPUMS.