Persia from the Earliest Period to the Arab

110 HISTORY OF PERSIA.
overlaid with precious metals or brilliant colours. As
in other cases, the existing remains here are probably
those of " Halls of Audience," while the private apartments
of the great king, " the king's house," of the
Bible, were doubtless contiguous, but somewhat behind ;
in all Muhamma-
distinct again from them, as now,
dan countries, and in conformity with the graphic
details in the story of Esther, was the " Women's
House 1 :" for all of them, there is ample room on
the great platform.
The Palace of Xerxes differs little from that of
Darius, except that it is still larger, the principal hall
being eighty, instead of fifty feet square, with thirtysix,
instead of sixteen pillars, to carry the roof. Two
of the larger of the side apartments, had also each
four supporting pillars, and by setting the chief struc-
ture well back on the platform, room has been obtained
for a magnificently wide terrace. In ornamentation,
the combats of the king with the lions or monsters,
is replaced by attendants, who bring articles for the
toilette or the table, perhaps indicating as does also
the architecture, the rapidly increasing growth of
luxury. If, indeed, the Ahasuerus of Esther be the
Xerxes of history, the general description in ii
chapter
especially, and that of the great banquet given by
Esther, fully corroborate what we learn elsewhere,
of the luxury of the Court in those later days. The
Palace of Ochus, in its leading features, would seem
to have been much like that of Xerxes, but is now
too ruined to be worth describing.
The fifth structure is what we have called the Eastern
1 Fsth. ii. 12-14.