DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0025
PREFACE TO PART II
THE monuments of architecture described in this part of the Publications of
an American Archaeological Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900 are chiefly
those of the mountain regions of Northern Central Syria and the Djebel
Hauran. A small number of buildings found in the basaltic region southeast of
Aleppo are published herewith, being quite new to the history of architecture; while
monuments at Isriyeh and Palmyra, though they do not come properly under
the title of this book, are described in connection with new material found by this
expedition.
The architecture of Northern Central Syria was first brought to the notice of the
scientific world by Count Melchior de Vogiie, who made an extensive tour in 1861-62,
and published the result of his observations in “ La Syrie Centrale, Architecture
Civile et Religieuse,” in 1866-77. Before this time, in 1842, MM. Texier and Pullan
had passed directly through the region and published two monuments in their “ Archi-
tecture Byzantine,” one of which was afterward republished by M. de Vogiie. Since
the visit of M. de Vogiie, little effort has been made to study the architectural monu-
ments of the country, and one hundred and twenty of the plates of “ La Syrie Cen-
trale,” with the text that accompanies them, have remained the principal, if not the
sole, source of information regarding the pagan and Christian architecture of Northern
Central Syria. Occasional notes and photographs, however, by Professor Eduard
Sachau and Dr. Max van Berchem have called attention to the architecture of the
region.
The architectural remains of the Djebel Ilauran, on the other hand, have been
XXI
THE monuments of architecture described in this part of the Publications of
an American Archaeological Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900 are chiefly
those of the mountain regions of Northern Central Syria and the Djebel
Hauran. A small number of buildings found in the basaltic region southeast of
Aleppo are published herewith, being quite new to the history of architecture; while
monuments at Isriyeh and Palmyra, though they do not come properly under
the title of this book, are described in connection with new material found by this
expedition.
The architecture of Northern Central Syria was first brought to the notice of the
scientific world by Count Melchior de Vogiie, who made an extensive tour in 1861-62,
and published the result of his observations in “ La Syrie Centrale, Architecture
Civile et Religieuse,” in 1866-77. Before this time, in 1842, MM. Texier and Pullan
had passed directly through the region and published two monuments in their “ Archi-
tecture Byzantine,” one of which was afterward republished by M. de Vogiie. Since
the visit of M. de Vogiie, little effort has been made to study the architectural monu-
ments of the country, and one hundred and twenty of the plates of “ La Syrie Cen-
trale,” with the text that accompanies them, have remained the principal, if not the
sole, source of information regarding the pagan and Christian architecture of Northern
Central Syria. Occasional notes and photographs, however, by Professor Eduard
Sachau and Dr. Max van Berchem have called attention to the architecture of the
region.
The architectural remains of the Djebel Ilauran, on the other hand, have been
XXI