DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0325
WALL-PAINTING
293
tending to bind the various scenes into one great picture, the action of which is con-
tinuous about the whole perimeter of the circle.
The designs are inspired with ancient traditions that may be traced all through the
history of classic and ancient Oriental art, and it is only the treatment that assigns
them to the period of the transition. The spirited action, the skilful use of color, the
fineness of technique, are not inferior to those of mosaics of the imperial epoch ; only
the outlining in black of each figure and even of the minor details bespeaks the late-
ness of the design.
WALL-PAINTING
^TMIE subject of wall-painting presupposes one of two things : either that the interior
J- surfaces of the stones which composed the walls were made smooth to receive
painted decoration, or that the walls were plastered within. The remains of painting
are extremely scant in all this region, owing to the fact that the walls have been ex-
posed to the elements for centuries; but I found sufficient evidence to establish the
fact that paint was applied to both kinds of surfaces — the smoothed stone and the
plaster patina. The great majority of interior wall surfaces in the ruined buildings
of this country are rough ; in many cases one may see that they were intentionally
roughened by a scratching-tool which has left in many places a network of incised
lines. It would seem that plaster was commonly applied to the interior walls of
buildings of all kinds; but this plaster, in the small number of preserved examples, is
not of the thick kind found in Pompeii and in other ancient ruins, butis a thin coating
of hard cement of very fine grain, which is still almost indestructible where it has
been protected from water. There is a little house at Bamukka (see page 79)
which has a number of cupboards and closets in the thickness of its walls. These
little recesses are provided with narrow molded ledges which project at the bottom.
On the under sides of these ledges, which are protected from the rain, we found a good
coat of plaster colored a deep red. In the lower stories of the tower at Kasr il-Benat,
described on page 156, where the wall surfaces of the narrow compartments are pro-
tected from the driving rain by the height of the walls, I found a similar plaster coat-
ing colored yellow and ornamented with crosses within circles painted in deep green.
The painted plaster linings of the great underground chambers at il-Mgharah have
been described on page 82. The methods employed here are exactly similar to
those described above which were applied to the walls of houses. A number
of partly built and partly excavated tombs in the region preserve bits of plaster
upon their walls, often crudely decorated with painted designs of the grape-vine and
other symbols. The vaulted dromos of a tomb on the eastern outskirts of Midjleyya
is lined throughout with plaster and painted ; but a fire, built by some wandering
natives in one angle of the wall, has obliterated most of the decoration. A section of a
293
tending to bind the various scenes into one great picture, the action of which is con-
tinuous about the whole perimeter of the circle.
The designs are inspired with ancient traditions that may be traced all through the
history of classic and ancient Oriental art, and it is only the treatment that assigns
them to the period of the transition. The spirited action, the skilful use of color, the
fineness of technique, are not inferior to those of mosaics of the imperial epoch ; only
the outlining in black of each figure and even of the minor details bespeaks the late-
ness of the design.
WALL-PAINTING
^TMIE subject of wall-painting presupposes one of two things : either that the interior
J- surfaces of the stones which composed the walls were made smooth to receive
painted decoration, or that the walls were plastered within. The remains of painting
are extremely scant in all this region, owing to the fact that the walls have been ex-
posed to the elements for centuries; but I found sufficient evidence to establish the
fact that paint was applied to both kinds of surfaces — the smoothed stone and the
plaster patina. The great majority of interior wall surfaces in the ruined buildings
of this country are rough ; in many cases one may see that they were intentionally
roughened by a scratching-tool which has left in many places a network of incised
lines. It would seem that plaster was commonly applied to the interior walls of
buildings of all kinds; but this plaster, in the small number of preserved examples, is
not of the thick kind found in Pompeii and in other ancient ruins, butis a thin coating
of hard cement of very fine grain, which is still almost indestructible where it has
been protected from water. There is a little house at Bamukka (see page 79)
which has a number of cupboards and closets in the thickness of its walls. These
little recesses are provided with narrow molded ledges which project at the bottom.
On the under sides of these ledges, which are protected from the rain, we found a good
coat of plaster colored a deep red. In the lower stories of the tower at Kasr il-Benat,
described on page 156, where the wall surfaces of the narrow compartments are pro-
tected from the driving rain by the height of the walls, I found a similar plaster coat-
ing colored yellow and ornamented with crosses within circles painted in deep green.
The painted plaster linings of the great underground chambers at il-Mgharah have
been described on page 82. The methods employed here are exactly similar to
those described above which were applied to the walls of houses. A number
of partly built and partly excavated tombs in the region preserve bits of plaster
upon their walls, often crudely decorated with painted designs of the grape-vine and
other symbols. The vaulted dromos of a tomb on the eastern outskirts of Midjleyya
is lined throughout with plaster and painted ; but a fire, built by some wandering
natives in one angle of the wall, has obliterated most of the decoration. A section of a