DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0337
ARCHITECTURE
305
disposed over the exterior surface. The doorway pieces are of cut stone without mold-
ings; the windows are large and arched. The faces of the voussoirs are smoothly
hnished, and the wall spaces between the windows are faced with cut stone laid in a
curious form of bond, long, narrow pieces alternating with very short ones. In the
interior, cut stone was used for the piers of the nave, of the apse, and of the arch of the
south chapel. The arch of the apse was built of large voussoirs of cut stone, but the
semi-dome was a shell of concrete of true Roman construction. It is probable that all
the apses of this region had similarly constructed semi-domes. The moldings of all
the piers were right-lined in section — a simple flat band above a chamfer; there was
no other ornament except upon the lintel of the central western portal, which is de-
scribed under the heading of sculpture on page 308.
This church may easily be restored upon paper from thc remains as they stand.
The south wall gives us a clear notion of the arrangement of the iower openings, and
the clearstory was in all probability similarly designed.
west church, 512 A.D. The third of the large buildings at Zebed is very similar
in plan to the foregoing; but only two of the piers of the nave and a small section of
the apse are standing. Again we find the curve of the apse
greater than a semicircle, and a flat east wall, but the pro-
portions of the nave are changed to the ratio of 3:2, as
was common in many sixth-century churches of the west.
The supports of the nave are rectangular piers, like those
of the East Church, but here they are widely spaced, like
those of the church of Kalb Lauzeh, carrying arches of
5.77 m. span. There were four arches on either side, or
one more than in the churches with broad arches in the west.
Upon the lintel of the front portal of this church was a
trilingual inscription in Greek, Syriac, and Arabic; it was
one of the most important inscriptions 1 in the whole region
and bore the date 511 a.d. This was copied by Professor
Sachau 2 in 1879 ; but it is no longer in Zebed, having been
carried to Aleppo several years ago, where it may still be
seen in the house of a native. Fig. 112. Pian ofWest Church at
Zebed.
Mu'allak. Mu'allak is situatcd at the eastern foot of the Djebel il-Hass. It seems
to have been an extensive town, situated on both sides of a stream which has proba-
bly been dry for many centuries. Little remains of the town to-day but mounds
of sand which cover its fallen walls, the leveled ruins of three churches, and the
remains of an aqueduct that extends back into the hills. Along the wadi are numerous
2 Eduard Sachau, Reise in Syrien und Mesopotamien, p. 126.
1 Part III, insc. 33612.
305
disposed over the exterior surface. The doorway pieces are of cut stone without mold-
ings; the windows are large and arched. The faces of the voussoirs are smoothly
hnished, and the wall spaces between the windows are faced with cut stone laid in a
curious form of bond, long, narrow pieces alternating with very short ones. In the
interior, cut stone was used for the piers of the nave, of the apse, and of the arch of the
south chapel. The arch of the apse was built of large voussoirs of cut stone, but the
semi-dome was a shell of concrete of true Roman construction. It is probable that all
the apses of this region had similarly constructed semi-domes. The moldings of all
the piers were right-lined in section — a simple flat band above a chamfer; there was
no other ornament except upon the lintel of the central western portal, which is de-
scribed under the heading of sculpture on page 308.
This church may easily be restored upon paper from thc remains as they stand.
The south wall gives us a clear notion of the arrangement of the iower openings, and
the clearstory was in all probability similarly designed.
west church, 512 A.D. The third of the large buildings at Zebed is very similar
in plan to the foregoing; but only two of the piers of the nave and a small section of
the apse are standing. Again we find the curve of the apse
greater than a semicircle, and a flat east wall, but the pro-
portions of the nave are changed to the ratio of 3:2, as
was common in many sixth-century churches of the west.
The supports of the nave are rectangular piers, like those
of the East Church, but here they are widely spaced, like
those of the church of Kalb Lauzeh, carrying arches of
5.77 m. span. There were four arches on either side, or
one more than in the churches with broad arches in the west.
Upon the lintel of the front portal of this church was a
trilingual inscription in Greek, Syriac, and Arabic; it was
one of the most important inscriptions 1 in the whole region
and bore the date 511 a.d. This was copied by Professor
Sachau 2 in 1879 ; but it is no longer in Zebed, having been
carried to Aleppo several years ago, where it may still be
seen in the house of a native. Fig. 112. Pian ofWest Church at
Zebed.
Mu'allak. Mu'allak is situatcd at the eastern foot of the Djebel il-Hass. It seems
to have been an extensive town, situated on both sides of a stream which has proba-
bly been dry for many centuries. Little remains of the town to-day but mounds
of sand which cover its fallen walls, the leveled ruins of three churches, and the
remains of an aqueduct that extends back into the hills. Along the wadi are numerous
2 Eduard Sachau, Reise in Syrien und Mesopotamien, p. 126.
1 Part III, insc. 33612.