DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0306
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
274
Antonines, at Burdj Bakirha. This temple is described on page 66. In the gable
of the west end one may plainly see the figure of an eagle which occupies the middle
of the pediment. The eagle stands in the attitude characteristic of the bird of Jove,
with wings raised but not outspread. The exposed position of this bit of relief sculp-
ture has caused it to weather badly, and it is difficult, for this reason, to study the
relief in detail; but the pose of the figure and the depth of the relief show it to belong,
like the temple, to a good period of art under Roman influence in this region.
Dehes. tomb reliefs. We visited many deserted cities and towns in this neigh-
borhood without fioding further evidences of sculpture, until we came to Dehes.
On the southern outskirts of this town we found at'narrow entrance to a tomb — a
flight of steps cut in the living rock, descending from the level surface to a small
doorway which opened into a large, square, rock-cut chamber with flat floor and
ceiling. One side of the chamber was occupied only by the entrance, the other three
by deep-arched arcosolia, two on each side. Each arcosolium embraced two rock-
cut sarcophagi, running lengthwise, tliat at the back of the arcosolium being raised
to its full height above the one in front of it. The faces of the sarcophagi, the wall
surfaCe at the back of the arcosolia, the spandrels of the arches and the narrow piers
between them, were all ornamented with reliefs which are in various conditions of
preservation.
The faces of the upper sarcophagi at the back of the arcosolia are carved to repre-
sent Roman couches; the fliead of each couch is adorned with a dolphin with Jail in
air to give an easy curve, and turned lefis are executed in relief at either end. The
lower sarcophagi, which have their sides flush with the wall of the chamber, are
ornamented with masks and gar-
lands. On the wall at the back of
the arcosolia are busts in high
relief, one in each, portraits pre-
sumably of the men and women
who were buried beneath. The
spandrels between the arcosolia
are variously ornamented. Be-
ginning at the center of the west
side of the tomb (left as one enters),
there is a group in lodv relief: a
man, spear in hand, in a sort of
chariot, battling with a beast of
many coils. This group I take
to represent the contest between Herakles and the Lernaean Hydra. In the next
spandrel, which forms an angle at one corner of the chamber, is a man with a long
Sculptures on west wall of tomb at Dehes.
274
Antonines, at Burdj Bakirha. This temple is described on page 66. In the gable
of the west end one may plainly see the figure of an eagle which occupies the middle
of the pediment. The eagle stands in the attitude characteristic of the bird of Jove,
with wings raised but not outspread. The exposed position of this bit of relief sculp-
ture has caused it to weather badly, and it is difficult, for this reason, to study the
relief in detail; but the pose of the figure and the depth of the relief show it to belong,
like the temple, to a good period of art under Roman influence in this region.
Dehes. tomb reliefs. We visited many deserted cities and towns in this neigh-
borhood without fioding further evidences of sculpture, until we came to Dehes.
On the southern outskirts of this town we found at'narrow entrance to a tomb — a
flight of steps cut in the living rock, descending from the level surface to a small
doorway which opened into a large, square, rock-cut chamber with flat floor and
ceiling. One side of the chamber was occupied only by the entrance, the other three
by deep-arched arcosolia, two on each side. Each arcosolium embraced two rock-
cut sarcophagi, running lengthwise, tliat at the back of the arcosolium being raised
to its full height above the one in front of it. The faces of the sarcophagi, the wall
surfaCe at the back of the arcosolia, the spandrels of the arches and the narrow piers
between them, were all ornamented with reliefs which are in various conditions of
preservation.
The faces of the upper sarcophagi at the back of the arcosolia are carved to repre-
sent Roman couches; the fliead of each couch is adorned with a dolphin with Jail in
air to give an easy curve, and turned lefis are executed in relief at either end. The
lower sarcophagi, which have their sides flush with the wall of the chamber, are
ornamented with masks and gar-
lands. On the wall at the back of
the arcosolia are busts in high
relief, one in each, portraits pre-
sumably of the men and women
who were buried beneath. The
spandrels between the arcosolia
are variously ornamented. Be-
ginning at the center of the west
side of the tomb (left as one enters),
there is a group in lodv relief: a
man, spear in hand, in a sort of
chariot, battling with a beast of
many coils. This group I take
to represent the contest between Herakles and the Lernaean Hydra. In the next
spandrel, which forms an angle at one corner of the chamber, is a man with a long
Sculptures on west wall of tomb at Dehes.