[Illustration: Fig. 125.--Plan of the Acropolis of Tiryns.]
The walls of Mykenæ are not of equally gigantic masonry, but are fully as old, and are especially interesting because of the city having been a complete ruin in the earliest historical times. Besides casemate galleries in the walls, there are in Mykenæ a number of highly important gateways and portals; those of the fortifications at Tiryns were entirely destroyed, an inclined plane leading to the eastern side of the acropolis is there alone to be recognized as an approach.
[Illustration: Fig. 126.--Gate of the Lions at Mykenæ.]
[Illustration: Fig. 127.--Smaller Gate of Mykenæ.]
The doors were naturally of greater technical perfection than the long line of bulwarks; having been created for both admittance and defence, they required a certain constructive calculation, and permitted the employment of more exterior ornament. The simplest possible form of a gateway is the combination of three stones--the two jambs and the lintel--observable in two examples at Mykenæ. (_Figs._ 126 and 127.) Such a construction had the disadvantage that the upright blocks could not be joined to the wall, and that the lintel, which necessarily lay clear for a considerable length, could not immediately receive the massive continuation of the masonry above it. Notwithstanding the convergence of the jambs upon the great gate of Mykenæ, the beam has a length of 4.6 m., with a span of 3.05 m.; the bottom of the door being 3.2 m. wide, and its height 3.25 m. A relieving gable was consequently constructed, similar to that common in Egypt during the age of the Pyramids, and to that described in the consideration of the Tholos of Atreus. A triangular opening remained above the lintel, by which the efficacy of the wall as a fortification was considerably impaired. The orifice was closed by one or two slabs, which did not press heavily upon the lintel; but they could not have been sufficient to escape fracture by heavy missiles, or to resist the blows of a battering-ram. The attack was therefore diverted from this vulnerable point by moral means. The panel received a certain consecration by some protecting sacred symbol being carved upon it--such, for instance, as a Gorgon’s head--a recourse which was effective in times when the slightest desecration of a divine emblem was deemed more impious than the bloodiest deed of human violence. Such a carving has been preserved over the gateway of Mykenæ, which has received its name from the lions represented upon it. As a work of sculpture, it will be considered below. The column between the animals has, however, a bearing upon the architectural forms of the epoch. It is the same shaft, diminishing from summit to base, which has been noticed upon the portal front of the Tholos of Atreus. A second gate of Mykenæ resembled the Gate of the Lions, but was smaller and simpler. (_Fig._ 127.)