DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0074
44
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
below the surface and reached by a descending dromos leading to a crudely fashioned
doorway. These are shown in the photograph on page 45 (see also Part III, insc. 18).
Nuriyeh. The other example mentioned above is more extensive, but is not so
well preserved. An irregular maze of polygonal walls with rough surfaces may be
traced along the northern slope of the hillside upon which the town of Nuriyeh was
built. Many of them have been built upon at a later period, and have been almost
concealed by the ruins of these superstructures. Only a fragment of the wall of a
small house is plainly
visible. This stands
facing the south,about
the centerof the ruined
town, a hundred paces
or so west of the little
church.
The character of the
polygonal masonry
here is, in all respects,
similar to that in the
example at Bankusa;
the north angle of the
wall, however, seems
to have been built, or
rebuilt, in quadrated style. The doorway, which is well preserved, presents char-
acteristics similar to those of the house described above. The jambs are slightly
inclined and are of single dressed stones. The lintel is very massive, but was care-
fully dressed upon its face and lower side, apparently with a pointed tool. A larger
proportion of small stones was employed in this wall, but they are fitted with
precision to the larger polygonal blocks. The interior of this house is filled with
debris, so that it is difficult to determine how it was arranged. This same type of
polygonal walling is found in the foundations of later structures and in sections of
restored walls at Babiska, Babutta, Banakfur, Dauwar, and other places.
Babiska. At Babiska, a large ruined town in the northeastern end of the Djebel
Barisha, we found a curious type of wall which is neither quadrated nor distinc-
tively polygonal, and yet, from its massive proportions and from the care displayed
in its construction, it cannot be placed in the large category of rough stone walls
which are found in the ruins of terraces and other structures of uncertain date through-
out the country. The house of which this wall forms the major portion faces south ;
its front wall is built of large, well-dressed, quadrated blocks, and its doorway is orna-
Front wall of polygonal house, at Nuriyeh.
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
below the surface and reached by a descending dromos leading to a crudely fashioned
doorway. These are shown in the photograph on page 45 (see also Part III, insc. 18).
Nuriyeh. The other example mentioned above is more extensive, but is not so
well preserved. An irregular maze of polygonal walls with rough surfaces may be
traced along the northern slope of the hillside upon which the town of Nuriyeh was
built. Many of them have been built upon at a later period, and have been almost
concealed by the ruins of these superstructures. Only a fragment of the wall of a
small house is plainly
visible. This stands
facing the south,about
the centerof the ruined
town, a hundred paces
or so west of the little
church.
The character of the
polygonal masonry
here is, in all respects,
similar to that in the
example at Bankusa;
the north angle of the
wall, however, seems
to have been built, or
rebuilt, in quadrated style. The doorway, which is well preserved, presents char-
acteristics similar to those of the house described above. The jambs are slightly
inclined and are of single dressed stones. The lintel is very massive, but was care-
fully dressed upon its face and lower side, apparently with a pointed tool. A larger
proportion of small stones was employed in this wall, but they are fitted with
precision to the larger polygonal blocks. The interior of this house is filled with
debris, so that it is difficult to determine how it was arranged. This same type of
polygonal walling is found in the foundations of later structures and in sections of
restored walls at Babiska, Babutta, Banakfur, Dauwar, and other places.
Babiska. At Babiska, a large ruined town in the northeastern end of the Djebel
Barisha, we found a curious type of wall which is neither quadrated nor distinc-
tively polygonal, and yet, from its massive proportions and from the care displayed
in its construction, it cannot be placed in the large category of rough stone walls
which are found in the ruins of terraces and other structures of uncertain date through-
out the country. The house of which this wall forms the major portion faces south ;
its front wall is built of large, well-dressed, quadrated blocks, and its doorway is orna-
Front wall of polygonal house, at Nuriyeh.