DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0375
ROMAN PERIOD
343
shennef, the peripteral temple at Kanawat, and the portal of the palace at the same
place will suffice to show that the classic architecture of the Hauran in Roman times
is fully the equal of the best models of similar date in Hurope, and far more chaste
and dignified than those gorgeous monuments which the Romans erected at Ba‘albek
under the supervision, it is believed, of imported artists. The design of these
monuments is dignified and elegant; their ornament is not profuse, and is usually
concentrated at a single point, as upon the fagade or the main portal. The ornament
itself is treated with rare delicacy and reserved simplicity, suggestive of the works of
the early Renaissance in Italy, and this in face of the enormous difficulties imposed
by one of the hardest and most unyielding of materials. The designs do not always
follow the canons accepted in Europe. These architects of the Hauran wrought out
their own interpretation of the ancient classic style, as did the architects of Rome;
both departed more or less from the ancient canons, and the results were equally
pleasing. One of thc chief advantages of the later development of the classic style
was its elasticity, its adaptability to various requirements, utilitarian or other. It was
this quality in classic architecture that made the Renaissance not only possible, but
inevitable; and it is this that we see most clearly illustrated in the imperial architecture
of the Hauran, which is not a lifeless reproduction of the imperial architecture of Italy,
or of Greece, or of Asia Minor, but has a character of its own which speaks for the
artistic feeling of native artists.
‘Atil. two temples, 15 i a.d. 1 There are two small temples at ‘Atil, an inhab-
ited town on the western slope of the Djebel Hauran, almost identical in dimensions,
in plan, and in design. One of them is situated on the western confines of the town,
the other stands near its northern end. Both are in complete ruins, but enough of
their superstructure is preserved in situ, and a sufficient number of details are to be
found in the immediate vicinity, to enable us to make almost
complete restorations of them both. Both temples are illus-
trated in Plate IX of Rey’s “Voyage dans le Haouran.”
The western temple is dated by an inscription 2 of the
Emperor Antoninus Pius of the year 151 a.d. This inscrip-
tion is at present concealed behind the wall of a modern
dwelling which includes the whole structure. The plan of
the temple was distyle in antis, and the inscription was en-
graved upon the plinths of both antas. The best-preserved
inscription is that upon the left anta. A similar inscription
occupied the corresponding position upon the other anta, Fls- I2°- Pian of tempies at‘Atii.
but only a fragment of it has been discovered. d he temple is to-day almost com-
' M. E. Guillaume Rey, Voyage dans le Haouran, Pl. IX; Leon de Laborde, Voyage de la Syrie, Pl. 53, pp. 112, 113.
2 Wad., 2372.
343
shennef, the peripteral temple at Kanawat, and the portal of the palace at the same
place will suffice to show that the classic architecture of the Hauran in Roman times
is fully the equal of the best models of similar date in Hurope, and far more chaste
and dignified than those gorgeous monuments which the Romans erected at Ba‘albek
under the supervision, it is believed, of imported artists. The design of these
monuments is dignified and elegant; their ornament is not profuse, and is usually
concentrated at a single point, as upon the fagade or the main portal. The ornament
itself is treated with rare delicacy and reserved simplicity, suggestive of the works of
the early Renaissance in Italy, and this in face of the enormous difficulties imposed
by one of the hardest and most unyielding of materials. The designs do not always
follow the canons accepted in Europe. These architects of the Hauran wrought out
their own interpretation of the ancient classic style, as did the architects of Rome;
both departed more or less from the ancient canons, and the results were equally
pleasing. One of thc chief advantages of the later development of the classic style
was its elasticity, its adaptability to various requirements, utilitarian or other. It was
this quality in classic architecture that made the Renaissance not only possible, but
inevitable; and it is this that we see most clearly illustrated in the imperial architecture
of the Hauran, which is not a lifeless reproduction of the imperial architecture of Italy,
or of Greece, or of Asia Minor, but has a character of its own which speaks for the
artistic feeling of native artists.
‘Atil. two temples, 15 i a.d. 1 There are two small temples at ‘Atil, an inhab-
ited town on the western slope of the Djebel Hauran, almost identical in dimensions,
in plan, and in design. One of them is situated on the western confines of the town,
the other stands near its northern end. Both are in complete ruins, but enough of
their superstructure is preserved in situ, and a sufficient number of details are to be
found in the immediate vicinity, to enable us to make almost
complete restorations of them both. Both temples are illus-
trated in Plate IX of Rey’s “Voyage dans le Haouran.”
The western temple is dated by an inscription 2 of the
Emperor Antoninus Pius of the year 151 a.d. This inscrip-
tion is at present concealed behind the wall of a modern
dwelling which includes the whole structure. The plan of
the temple was distyle in antis, and the inscription was en-
graved upon the plinths of both antas. The best-preserved
inscription is that upon the left anta. A similar inscription
occupied the corresponding position upon the other anta, Fls- I2°- Pian of tempies at‘Atii.
but only a fragment of it has been discovered. d he temple is to-day almost com-
' M. E. Guillaume Rey, Voyage dans le Haouran, Pl. IX; Leon de Laborde, Voyage de la Syrie, Pl. 53, pp. 112, 113.
2 Wad., 2372.