'Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, and on the Site of Ancient Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad and an Account of a Visit to Shirauz and Persepolis.' [‎116] (149/450)

116 SASSANIAN ARCHITECTURE. [CH. XVII.
its loiK'th. The arch of the roof is round ; a porlion
of it remains, the rest has fallen down, and formed
heaps of rubbish on the floor, now consolidated and
covered wifh a bright green mildew*. Standing near
the altar, and looking down the church to the west
end, I was struck with its great resemblance to
Tank Kesra. Every thing was in the same style,
only on a smaller scale, and substituting good stone
and gypsum for homely brick. So strong was the re
semblance indeed, that had there ever been a Christian
liiii"' of the Parthian or Sassanian dynasties, I could
almost have pronounced the Tank to have been the im
perial or patriarchal church. As it is, this may serve
as an additional proof of the derivation of the archi
tecture of these parts from the Sassanian. The arch
of the altar is composed of two segments of circles.
The vault of the church is pure Sassanian, or circulai,
and, if it had but a little more space, would bo really
handsome. The niches, small doors and windows,
little niches on the sides of the altar supported by
small double pillars, are all correctly Kesrani- 01
the parallel church, nothing worthy of remark remains.
Indeed it seems to have been of an inferior, possibly
of a more recent construction. The little west door
way, which is the principal entrance of the hand
some church, appears to have been repaired with
* The frreat damps observable at Mousul must proceed from
the irvpsum and its salt. The climate will not account for it.
t By winch Mr. Rich means in the style ot lauk Kesra.