DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0300
268
ARCHITECTURE OF THE SIXTH CENTURY
Der Sim'an. arch. 1 The triumphal arch of Der Sim'an was published in restored
form by M. de Vogiie. It was of a very different sort from the preceding arch, and
may safely be dated at the end of the fifth or the beginning of the
sixth century. This is also a simple wall arch, but its character is
more monumental than that of the other. Its piers are T-form in
plan, the arch springing from a column on either side at the foot
of the T, the arms of the T representing buttresses which give
firmness to the design. The three buttresses on each side are
treated like responds and have carved foliated caps below the
level of the springing of the arch, corresponding to the cap of the
free-standing column. The voussoirs of the arch rest partly
upon the column and partly upon the main buttress. The face
of the arch is absolutely unadorned. The lateral buttresses are
carried up to about two thirds of the height of the arch, where
they carry free-standing colonnettes that support ressauts of the
main cornice. The spandrels of the arch, too, are plain, and the
cornice is carried upon brackets on both faces, according to M. de Vogue’s plate.
Presses. There are hundreds, I might say thousands, of presses for the making
of oil and wine in and about the deserted towns of Northern Syria. It is difficult to
distinguish the wine-presses from the olive-presses, unless we may judge by their size :
those for wine-pressing may be smaller than the others. These presses are found in
four forms. In the first, which is the most primitive, the vats for pressing and the
receptacles for liquids are
cut in the surface of the flat
rock. These are found in
countless numbers in every
locality. In the second form
the pressing apparatus is
cut in the solid rock, as in
the first type, but this is
surrounded by piers which
supported a wooden roof.
The third form is a rock-
hewn chamber, an under-
ground mill. In the fourth
type, which abounds chiefly
in the Djebel Riha, parts of the apparatus are rock-hewn, and the whole arrangement
is inclosed by walls with transverse arches carrying a flat roof of stone slabs.
1 La Syrie Centrale, Pl. 115.
Pier of arch at Der Sim'an.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE SIXTH CENTURY
Der Sim'an. arch. 1 The triumphal arch of Der Sim'an was published in restored
form by M. de Vogiie. It was of a very different sort from the preceding arch, and
may safely be dated at the end of the fifth or the beginning of the
sixth century. This is also a simple wall arch, but its character is
more monumental than that of the other. Its piers are T-form in
plan, the arch springing from a column on either side at the foot
of the T, the arms of the T representing buttresses which give
firmness to the design. The three buttresses on each side are
treated like responds and have carved foliated caps below the
level of the springing of the arch, corresponding to the cap of the
free-standing column. The voussoirs of the arch rest partly
upon the column and partly upon the main buttress. The face
of the arch is absolutely unadorned. The lateral buttresses are
carried up to about two thirds of the height of the arch, where
they carry free-standing colonnettes that support ressauts of the
main cornice. The spandrels of the arch, too, are plain, and the
cornice is carried upon brackets on both faces, according to M. de Vogue’s plate.
Presses. There are hundreds, I might say thousands, of presses for the making
of oil and wine in and about the deserted towns of Northern Syria. It is difficult to
distinguish the wine-presses from the olive-presses, unless we may judge by their size :
those for wine-pressing may be smaller than the others. These presses are found in
four forms. In the first, which is the most primitive, the vats for pressing and the
receptacles for liquids are
cut in the surface of the flat
rock. These are found in
countless numbers in every
locality. In the second form
the pressing apparatus is
cut in the solid rock, as in
the first type, but this is
surrounded by piers which
supported a wooden roof.
The third form is a rock-
hewn chamber, an under-
ground mill. In the fourth
type, which abounds chiefly
in the Djebel Riha, parts of the apparatus are rock-hewn, and the whole arrangement
is inclosed by walls with transverse arches carrying a flat roof of stone slabs.
1 La Syrie Centrale, Pl. 115.
Pier of arch at Der Sim'an.