DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0062
32
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
The narrow moldings were also often carved with patterns — the cyma recta with
upright acanthus leaves, the fascia with bay leaves or olive, the quarter-round with a
fine scroll of clover leaf or a late form of egg and dart, in which the dart is often
missing. The dentil band
of classic ornament sur-
vived in a flat, almost shad-
owless form, but the classic
bead and reel was ern-
ployed with all its fresh-
ness, usually in the angle
between fascias. Flat mem-
bers were carved with al-
most all of the designs
common to the beveled cornice, and with grape-vine, basketwork, zigzags, and chain
ornament. A curious barbed ornament was often used for the flat member between
the moldings of a doorway and the cap above them.
Panels. The upper colonnades of houses were provided with parapets between
their columns. These were simply thin rectangular slabs of stone extending across
the intercolumniation, and often paneled. The panels were framed in moldings, and
were usually ornamented with a symbolic disk or a cross in the center. In a number
of cases the surface of the panel was carved with diaperwork in geometrical designs.
Diaperwork was also applied to the lunettes above rectangular windows whose
moldings described semicircles above them. In these we find foliate designs, the
grape-vine growing out of a vase, or intricate geometrical patterns which strongly
suggest the designs of certain Oriental rugs (see “ La Syrie Centrale,” Pl. 50).
Disks. The most characteristic ornament of this architecture consists of the
disks executed on flat surfaces, which appear upon the lintels of doors and windows
and in rnany other plaoes, upon churches, shops, private houses, and every other kind
of building of every size, in all parts of the country. They are found in a thousand
designs: some of them are symbolic and Christian, others are apparently only orna-
mental. The designs include sunbursts, five-, six- and eight-pointed stars, whorls,
spirals, interwoven leaves, and crosses of countless forms (always of the so-called
Greek type), forming the >£, or making patterns with the letters A and (l>, rosettes,
flowers, and leaves. These disks are often used in a series for the decoration of a
frieze or a beveled cornice. Some suggestions as to the origin of these disks are
given by Dr. Littmann in the foot-note. 1
1 The origin of these disks is probably to be sought for in blems, some of which were disks (compare, e.g., the bas-
the religious art of the Babylonians and Assyrians. We relief of Esarhaddon in Sendjirli, the stele of Esarhaddon at
know that their gods are represented by conventional em- Nahr il-Kelb, the rock-relief of Bavian, and especially the
Ovolo door-cap, carved with rinceaux of acanthus below and with the
grape-vine above, at il-Barah.
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
The narrow moldings were also often carved with patterns — the cyma recta with
upright acanthus leaves, the fascia with bay leaves or olive, the quarter-round with a
fine scroll of clover leaf or a late form of egg and dart, in which the dart is often
missing. The dentil band
of classic ornament sur-
vived in a flat, almost shad-
owless form, but the classic
bead and reel was ern-
ployed with all its fresh-
ness, usually in the angle
between fascias. Flat mem-
bers were carved with al-
most all of the designs
common to the beveled cornice, and with grape-vine, basketwork, zigzags, and chain
ornament. A curious barbed ornament was often used for the flat member between
the moldings of a doorway and the cap above them.
Panels. The upper colonnades of houses were provided with parapets between
their columns. These were simply thin rectangular slabs of stone extending across
the intercolumniation, and often paneled. The panels were framed in moldings, and
were usually ornamented with a symbolic disk or a cross in the center. In a number
of cases the surface of the panel was carved with diaperwork in geometrical designs.
Diaperwork was also applied to the lunettes above rectangular windows whose
moldings described semicircles above them. In these we find foliate designs, the
grape-vine growing out of a vase, or intricate geometrical patterns which strongly
suggest the designs of certain Oriental rugs (see “ La Syrie Centrale,” Pl. 50).
Disks. The most characteristic ornament of this architecture consists of the
disks executed on flat surfaces, which appear upon the lintels of doors and windows
and in rnany other plaoes, upon churches, shops, private houses, and every other kind
of building of every size, in all parts of the country. They are found in a thousand
designs: some of them are symbolic and Christian, others are apparently only orna-
mental. The designs include sunbursts, five-, six- and eight-pointed stars, whorls,
spirals, interwoven leaves, and crosses of countless forms (always of the so-called
Greek type), forming the >£, or making patterns with the letters A and (l>, rosettes,
flowers, and leaves. These disks are often used in a series for the decoration of a
frieze or a beveled cornice. Some suggestions as to the origin of these disks are
given by Dr. Littmann in the foot-note. 1
1 The origin of these disks is probably to be sought for in blems, some of which were disks (compare, e.g., the bas-
the religious art of the Babylonians and Assyrians. We relief of Esarhaddon in Sendjirli, the stele of Esarhaddon at
know that their gods are represented by conventional em- Nahr il-Kelb, the rock-relief of Bavian, and especially the
Ovolo door-cap, carved with rinceaux of acanthus below and with the
grape-vine above, at il-Barah.