DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0338
3° 6
DJEBEL IL-HASS AND DJEBEL SHBET
Fig. 113. Plan of North
Church at Mu'allak.
large cisterns lined with stone and cement, which had openings into the stream so
that water could be caught at flood-time and be preserved for daily use. The aqueduct
is a small affair — a narrow conduit carried upon a substructure
not high at any point. The three churches are worthy of descrip-
tion, though only their ground plans are visible, for all were built
like those at Zebed, and their walls have disintegrated.
north church. The North Church appears to be the oldest,
if one may judge from very meager remains. The plan is of the
type common in the fifth and sixth centuries ; the proportions and
the unit of measurement, however, are those common in the sixth.
This unit was the foot of .37 m., according to which the length is
57 feet, the width 38 feet, the proportion of 3:2. The central
nave is 19 feet wide, the apse arch 14 feet
wide, and the apse chambers 9 by 10
feet square ; the shafts of the columns were 6 feet high, in two
sections, and 1 J4 feetin diameter; the capitals were 1 foothigh,
and there were six intercolumniations of 9 feet each, which
would make the space between the columns wider than the
length of the columns, unless there were high bases. Carved
ornament was wholly wanting; the capitals were perfectly
plain inverted truncated cones, with slightly curved sides, a
square abacus, and a narrow astragal.
south church. The South Church at Mu‘allak stands
upon a low knoll surrounded by a rectangular mound which
marks the line of a wall like that which surrounds the basil-
ica at Zebed. It is the largest of the three churches in this
place, measuring 27.40 m. by 17.40 m. Its plan is like that
of the foregoing example, with the exception that it had a
square tower, a little over three meters square, on either side of its western portal. The
ornament of this church has rather more character than that of the North Church.
Its capitals, .78 m. square and .62 m. high (Fig. 115), are composed of a square abacus
set upon a cubical block with edges chamfered off at an angle
and brought to a curve which, at the bottom of the capital, coin-
cided with the circle of the shaft, where it is encircled by a narrow
bead-and-reel molding. Each capital is ornamented with a cross
in flat relief, about which is draped a round fillet describing the
lines of an inverted miter. This capital may be taken as a proto-
type of the cushion capitals of the Romanesque style of Europe.
Plan of South Church
at Mu'allak.
Fig. 115. Capital in South
Church at Mu'allak.
DJEBEL IL-HASS AND DJEBEL SHBET
Fig. 113. Plan of North
Church at Mu'allak.
large cisterns lined with stone and cement, which had openings into the stream so
that water could be caught at flood-time and be preserved for daily use. The aqueduct
is a small affair — a narrow conduit carried upon a substructure
not high at any point. The three churches are worthy of descrip-
tion, though only their ground plans are visible, for all were built
like those at Zebed, and their walls have disintegrated.
north church. The North Church appears to be the oldest,
if one may judge from very meager remains. The plan is of the
type common in the fifth and sixth centuries ; the proportions and
the unit of measurement, however, are those common in the sixth.
This unit was the foot of .37 m., according to which the length is
57 feet, the width 38 feet, the proportion of 3:2. The central
nave is 19 feet wide, the apse arch 14 feet
wide, and the apse chambers 9 by 10
feet square ; the shafts of the columns were 6 feet high, in two
sections, and 1 J4 feetin diameter; the capitals were 1 foothigh,
and there were six intercolumniations of 9 feet each, which
would make the space between the columns wider than the
length of the columns, unless there were high bases. Carved
ornament was wholly wanting; the capitals were perfectly
plain inverted truncated cones, with slightly curved sides, a
square abacus, and a narrow astragal.
south church. The South Church at Mu‘allak stands
upon a low knoll surrounded by a rectangular mound which
marks the line of a wall like that which surrounds the basil-
ica at Zebed. It is the largest of the three churches in this
place, measuring 27.40 m. by 17.40 m. Its plan is like that
of the foregoing example, with the exception that it had a
square tower, a little over three meters square, on either side of its western portal. The
ornament of this church has rather more character than that of the North Church.
Its capitals, .78 m. square and .62 m. high (Fig. 115), are composed of a square abacus
set upon a cubical block with edges chamfered off at an angle
and brought to a curve which, at the bottom of the capital, coin-
cided with the circle of the shaft, where it is encircled by a narrow
bead-and-reel molding. Each capital is ornamented with a cross
in flat relief, about which is draped a round fillet describing the
lines of an inverted miter. This capital may be taken as a proto-
type of the cushion capitals of the Romanesque style of Europe.
Plan of South Church
at Mu'allak.
Fig. 115. Capital in South
Church at Mu'allak.