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THEOPHRASTUS ON STONES
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the evidence of geological formations and our knowledge of the stones used in ancient structures, show that these terms were general ones that were applied to rocks of cellular structure and low density such as calcareous tufa or fossiliferous limestone. The statement of Theophrastus here is somewhat reminiscent of the one made by Herodotus, who remarks,37 in speaking of the building of the temple of Apollo at Delphi, that the front was of Parian marble and the main part of poros stone, which in this case was the calcareous tufa plentiful around Mt. Parnassos. Pausanias38 states that the temple of Zeus at Olympia was made of poros locally obtained, undoubtedly the coarse fossiliferous limestone of that particular locality. In general, such limestone rock, being plentiful in Greece and easy to quarry or work, seems to have been a favorite building material, as is shown by its presence in a number of surviving ancient structures or ruins. The kind of poros which Theophrastus compares with Parian marble might be identified as travertine, a stone which in general appearance as well as chemical composition is very much like marble. There is ample evidence that travertine was widely used for building purposes in ancient times, particularly in Italy, and surviving examples show that fine-grained calcareous tufa or travertine was also frequently employed for statuary. But when the name poros is applied to a marble-like stone used by the Egyptians for elaborate buildings, it probably has a special meaning. It seems to mean some variety of Egyptian onyx marble, as this is the only marblelike stone that the Egyptians used in the construction of buildings ; it was especially used in the construction of sanctuaries and temples, as is shown by surviving examples that have come down to us.39 Though Theophrastus apparently speaks of onyx marble as alabastrites or chernites in the preceding section, it does not follow that this identification is wrong, since the stone occurs in several varieties that differ much in appearance. Moreover, the ancients often gave different names to the same mineral substance, or used the same name to denote two or more mineral species that we consider entirely distinct. The latter practice seems to have been true of poros, as it is very probable that this term
87 V, 62. The text reads πώρινου Χίθον. 38 V, 10, 3.
89 Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, p. 75.
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