Chairs, thrones, stools and tables were square in shape. The ends of the rails and legs were carved, and the ornamentation employed for these and similar positions included the heads of lions, bulls and rams, the sacred palm and pine cone.
[Illustration: No. 16. Capitals from Persepolis.]
The seats of chairs and thrones were much higher than is now customary, and necessitated the use of foot-stools. In some cases both chairs and tables were made to fold on a central pivot.
In some cases metal was used either for part or for the complete structure.
Exact chronology is a matter of surmise, but at an early period, about 4000 B.C., in the valley of the Nile and in Mesopotamia, civilization had attained a very high level, extremely favourable to the development of architecture and the artistic crafts.
The early Greeks, as a result of the peculiar formation of their coast line, like the later Scandinavians, were adventurers on the sea, piratical and trading, and were thus brought into communication with, and influenced by, the arts of Egypt and Chaldea.
[Illustration: No. 17. Early Treatment of Doric Order. Tomb of Beni Hassan.]
Though, in their architecture, the Greeks progressed no further than the Lintel, yet they must be credited with the development of the system of the orders, which formed the basis of subsequent styles.
The two prominent orders were the Doric and the Ionic; the former has its prototype in the tomb of Beni Hasan, the date of which is 1740 B.C., while the latter is evidently derived as to the voluted form of the capital, from Assyrian and Persian originals.
[Illustration: No. 18. Early anticipation of Ionic Order. Tomb at Kyanea-Jaghu.]
The capital of the Corinthian order may be considered to be a development of the Egyptian Papyrus form, the earliest features of both consisting of an inverted bell-shape decorated with leaf-like detail.
[Illustration: No. 19. Greek Vase Paintings. A. Doric columns. B. Wall fountain. C. Ionic columns with pediment.]
Characteristic Greek details, such as the Anthemion and wave scroll, are traceable to the same sources.
Their architectural work, which was monumental in character, was mostly manifested in the temples, the domestic buildings being relatively unimportant.