DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0352
320
DJEBEL HAURAN
upper quadrants thus formed contain, the one an A, the other an CO; the two lower
quadrants are provided with six-lobed rosettes. There are numerous instances in
which the cross has been substituted for some other ornament upon the lintels of
pagan doorways. The removal of the original feature and the substitution of the
Christian symbol are often effected in a very clumsy manner, which shows that Chris-
tian hands in the Hauran were unaccustomed to the chisel. In a pagan doorway at
Kanawat, which was made to serve as an entrance to a church, a small figure in relief
was so imperfectly chiseled away from the centcr of the lintel that its outline is still
visible bchind the cross that was intended to take its place. The lintel, on either side
of the cross, and the jambs of the doorway were beautifully carvecl with a naturalistic
grape-vine, and this common ornament of paganism in the Hauran, being also a
Christian symbol, was permitted to remain, in all its richness, to beautify the portal
of a Christian sanctuary. But, as has been said before, there was little disposition on
the part of the artists of the Christian period to copy this highly decorative pattern,
though it was commonly employed in other parts of Syria. One of the rare examples
of its use is to be found in the ornament of two symbolic disks upon a lintel of the
Church of St. George at Zor'ah.
Nothing can be said definitely of the arts of mosaic and wall-painting in the Djebel
Hauran, though it is very probable that both were practised in that country during
both pagan and Christian times. The fact that ancient buildings of all classes are now
inhabited, and that the floors are either buried in modern accumulations of soil or
plastered over with clay, makes the search for mosaics an almost impossible task. If
the ancient walls were lined with plaster, as in all probability they were, the plaster
may have been colored and decorated with various designs; but there are no remains
of either plaster or painting. It is clear from the ruins that one building at least, the
public baths at Shehba, was lined with a revetment of thin marble slabs, and there are
indications that the interior of other large structures was similarly adorned.
DJEBEL HAURAN
upper quadrants thus formed contain, the one an A, the other an CO; the two lower
quadrants are provided with six-lobed rosettes. There are numerous instances in
which the cross has been substituted for some other ornament upon the lintels of
pagan doorways. The removal of the original feature and the substitution of the
Christian symbol are often effected in a very clumsy manner, which shows that Chris-
tian hands in the Hauran were unaccustomed to the chisel. In a pagan doorway at
Kanawat, which was made to serve as an entrance to a church, a small figure in relief
was so imperfectly chiseled away from the centcr of the lintel that its outline is still
visible bchind the cross that was intended to take its place. The lintel, on either side
of the cross, and the jambs of the doorway were beautifully carvecl with a naturalistic
grape-vine, and this common ornament of paganism in the Hauran, being also a
Christian symbol, was permitted to remain, in all its richness, to beautify the portal
of a Christian sanctuary. But, as has been said before, there was little disposition on
the part of the artists of the Christian period to copy this highly decorative pattern,
though it was commonly employed in other parts of Syria. One of the rare examples
of its use is to be found in the ornament of two symbolic disks upon a lintel of the
Church of St. George at Zor'ah.
Nothing can be said definitely of the arts of mosaic and wall-painting in the Djebel
Hauran, though it is very probable that both were practised in that country during
both pagan and Christian times. The fact that ancient buildings of all classes are now
inhabited, and that the floors are either buried in modern accumulations of soil or
plastered over with clay, makes the search for mosaics an almost impossible task. If
the ancient walls were lined with plaster, as in all probability they were, the plaster
may have been colored and decorated with various designs; but there are no remains
of either plaster or painting. It is clear from the ruins that one building at least, the
public baths at Shehba, was lined with a revetment of thin marble slabs, and there are
indications that the interior of other large structures was similarly adorned.