DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0329
ARCHITECTURE
29 7
walls covercd by the sand that has drifted in from the desert; for the towns in these
hills were built for the most part at the base of the slopes, on the level of the plain. In
all of them very little is to be seen above the soil, owing to the use of clay and a poor
quality of mortar. The details may be studied from a few small monuments almost
intact because they were built of cut stone, from a few fragments of wall which were
better built than the rest, and from pieces of columns and bits of decoration that have
not been buried in the drifting sand.
Ornament. The hardness of the material in which they were executed prevented
a high development of decorative details. The carving is all of the flat, superficial
character already seen in the black-stone doors which were imported into the moun-
tains of the west. Architraves are seldom molded, windows and doorways never.
Lintels are adorned with flat designs in running patterns, or disks of simple composi-
tion. Capitals have either perfectly plain curved surfaces or are ornamented with
crudely carved ornament in low relief. The remains of decorative details in the ruins
of this immediate vicinity are too scant for the illustration of the style of ornament
peculiar to the black-stone country of the north ; but in the town of Selemiyeh, 65
miles to the southwest, in this same lava belt, there are numerous examples of details
in the same style as that of
the few remains of the Dje-
bel il-Hass and the Djebel
Shbet. Selemiyeh is a large
modern town built for the
most part out of the ruins
of an ancient city. There
are fragments here of build-
ings in classic style, built of
imported materials such as
limestone and marble; but
the remains of Christian
architecture are invariably
in black basalt. The walls
of the Arabic castle in the
center of the town, and the
walls and courtyards of most
of the houses, are full of
fragments of architectural details belonging to the Christian period. There are no
ancient buildings standing, even in part; they were probably built in the unstable
manner of the buildings of the Djebel il-ITass; but thc fragments referred to above
will serve to illustrate the ornament of this black-stone region of the north.
29 7
walls covercd by the sand that has drifted in from the desert; for the towns in these
hills were built for the most part at the base of the slopes, on the level of the plain. In
all of them very little is to be seen above the soil, owing to the use of clay and a poor
quality of mortar. The details may be studied from a few small monuments almost
intact because they were built of cut stone, from a few fragments of wall which were
better built than the rest, and from pieces of columns and bits of decoration that have
not been buried in the drifting sand.
Ornament. The hardness of the material in which they were executed prevented
a high development of decorative details. The carving is all of the flat, superficial
character already seen in the black-stone doors which were imported into the moun-
tains of the west. Architraves are seldom molded, windows and doorways never.
Lintels are adorned with flat designs in running patterns, or disks of simple composi-
tion. Capitals have either perfectly plain curved surfaces or are ornamented with
crudely carved ornament in low relief. The remains of decorative details in the ruins
of this immediate vicinity are too scant for the illustration of the style of ornament
peculiar to the black-stone country of the north ; but in the town of Selemiyeh, 65
miles to the southwest, in this same lava belt, there are numerous examples of details
in the same style as that of
the few remains of the Dje-
bel il-Hass and the Djebel
Shbet. Selemiyeh is a large
modern town built for the
most part out of the ruins
of an ancient city. There
are fragments here of build-
ings in classic style, built of
imported materials such as
limestone and marble; but
the remains of Christian
architecture are invariably
in black basalt. The walls
of the Arabic castle in the
center of the town, and the
walls and courtyards of most
of the houses, are full of
fragments of architectural details belonging to the Christian period. There are no
ancient buildings standing, even in part; they were probably built in the unstable
manner of the buildings of the Djebel il-ITass; but thc fragments referred to above
will serve to illustrate the ornament of this black-stone region of the north.