Note 3 — Chapter XVI · AKHLAT

It is supposed that the prospective occupant of the tomb, or the pious visitors to this place of burial, would sit and rest within this cool, circular chamber, beneath the lofty roof, enjoying the views of the country around. They would, however, have needed a ladder to reach the entrances. The interiors are quite plain; in one instance (No. 1) we observed traces of plaster; but, as a rule, there is neither ornament nor covering of the surface of the masonry, in which one admires the even joints of the blocks of faced stone. The material of these tombs is stone throughout—a pink volcanic stone. All the resources of the decorative sculptor are lavished upon the exterior, especially about the doorways, the four niches in the intervening spaces, and the cornice beneath the roof. In some cases raised stone mouldings enrich the surface of the roof. Sometimes a frieze is carried beneath the cornice, the most effective being hewn out of white marble.3 They are inscribed with sentences from the Koran. The beautiful Arabic letters vary the effect of the elaborate geometrical patterns in the decorated spaces of the walls beneath. The personal inscriptions are usually found over the doorways; and, in some instances, are engraved upon white marble slabs. The two tombs which we are now visiting both possess such inscriptions; the khoja copied them; they are in Arabic prose. Those on the first tomb (No. 1) record that it is the burial-place of a great Emir, by name Nughatay Agha, and of the lady, wife to Nughatay. The date of his death is given as A.H. 678, or A.D. 1279. The second tomb is described as that of Hasan Timur Agha, son of this Nughatay, who died in A.H. 680 or A.D. 1281.4