CHAPTER XVI.
Going next day to fill his appointment with Iras, Ben-Hur turned from the Omphalus, which was in the heart of the city, into the Colonnade of Herod, and came shortly to the palace of Idernee.
From the street he passed first into a vestibule, on the sides of which were stairways under cover, leading up to a portico.

Winged lions sat by the stairs; in the middle there was a gigantic ibis spouting water over the floor; the lions, ibis, walls, and floor were reminders of the Egyptians: everything, even the balustrading of the stairs, was of massive gray stone.
Above the vestibule, and covering the landing of the steps, arose the portico, a pillared grace, so light, so exquisitely proportioned, it was at that period hardly possible of conception except by a Greek.

Of marble snowy white, its effect was that of a lily dropped carelessly upon a great bare rock.
Ben-Hur paused in the shade of the portico to admire its tracery and finish, and the purity of its marble; then he passed on into the palace.

Ample folding-doors stood open to receive him.
The passage into which he first entered was high, but somewhat narrow; red tiling formed the floor, and the walls were tinted to correspond.

Yet this plainness was a warning of something beautiful to come.
He moved on slowly, all his faculties in repose.