DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0386
354
PAGAN ARCHITECTURE IN THE DJEBEL HAURAN
specimens of ancient dry masonry in existence, being 12 m. high and 25 m. long, and
perfectly smooth from end to end, an even surface of shining black, strewn with patches
of white lichen.
The minor details — the portal and the niches —• are much less ornate than in the
smaller temples: The doorway is extremely broad and tall, framed in a deep set of
moldings of good profile without carved decoration. Over the lintel was a frieze
ornamented with perpendicular grooves and capped by an overhanging cornice mold-
ing. Inside the portal, the walls of the chambers on either hand are splayed back to
provide for the swinging back of the great doors. In the inner faces of the anta walls
there are niches, two on either side, superposed one above the other. These are not
in the middle of the wall space, but are set well at one side, adjoining the front wall
of the cella. The top of the uppermost niche is only a little higher than half the
height of the wall. All of these niches are rectangular and of about the same dimen-
sions, being just large enough to accommodate a life-size statue. Their molclings
are quite elaborate in profile, but have no carved enrichments. The same is true of
the moldings of the arch within the cella, and the niches beside it. Here is a structure
which was almost certainly roofed in wood ; no system of interior columns could be
devised, in connection with the width of the recess at the end of the cella and that of
the inside opening of the portal, which would not make the central aisle much wider
than the central intercolumniations of the pronaos, and thus elevate the arches above
the level of the arch of the pediment. This temple is noticed by Dr. Porter, and is
unsatisfactorily published by MM. de Laborde and Rey.
temple 1 OF helios (?). There is another large templeat
Kanaw-at, situated far to the north on much lower ground,
at the opposite cnd of the ancient city, beyond the limits
of the walls. It has, nevertheless, a commanding situation, still
high above the plain, with a superb view across the lowlands
toward the snow-clad caps of the Anti-Lebanon. The temple
was peripteral, and was set upon a lofty podium. Its columns
of tall and graceful proportions, seven of which are standing,
make it the most beautiful and impressive of all the ruins in
the Hauran. M. Rey gives an approximately correct plan of
this building and a sketch of it in Plate VIII ; Porter gives a
plan, which, however, is incorrect, and others have noticed it
in their descriptions of the city of Kanatha. An inscription 2
which was found near the ruin indicates that this temple was
dedicated to Helios. This matter is discussed by Dr. Pren-
tice in Part III of this publication. The temple faces the
1 De Laborde, Voyage de la Syrie, Pl. 54, p. 114; also Rey, Voyage dans le Haouran, Pl. VIII. 2 Part III, insc. 407.
Fig. 125. Plan of peripteral tem-
ple at Kanaw&t.
PAGAN ARCHITECTURE IN THE DJEBEL HAURAN
specimens of ancient dry masonry in existence, being 12 m. high and 25 m. long, and
perfectly smooth from end to end, an even surface of shining black, strewn with patches
of white lichen.
The minor details — the portal and the niches —• are much less ornate than in the
smaller temples: The doorway is extremely broad and tall, framed in a deep set of
moldings of good profile without carved decoration. Over the lintel was a frieze
ornamented with perpendicular grooves and capped by an overhanging cornice mold-
ing. Inside the portal, the walls of the chambers on either hand are splayed back to
provide for the swinging back of the great doors. In the inner faces of the anta walls
there are niches, two on either side, superposed one above the other. These are not
in the middle of the wall space, but are set well at one side, adjoining the front wall
of the cella. The top of the uppermost niche is only a little higher than half the
height of the wall. All of these niches are rectangular and of about the same dimen-
sions, being just large enough to accommodate a life-size statue. Their molclings
are quite elaborate in profile, but have no carved enrichments. The same is true of
the moldings of the arch within the cella, and the niches beside it. Here is a structure
which was almost certainly roofed in wood ; no system of interior columns could be
devised, in connection with the width of the recess at the end of the cella and that of
the inside opening of the portal, which would not make the central aisle much wider
than the central intercolumniations of the pronaos, and thus elevate the arches above
the level of the arch of the pediment. This temple is noticed by Dr. Porter, and is
unsatisfactorily published by MM. de Laborde and Rey.
temple 1 OF helios (?). There is another large templeat
Kanaw-at, situated far to the north on much lower ground,
at the opposite cnd of the ancient city, beyond the limits
of the walls. It has, nevertheless, a commanding situation, still
high above the plain, with a superb view across the lowlands
toward the snow-clad caps of the Anti-Lebanon. The temple
was peripteral, and was set upon a lofty podium. Its columns
of tall and graceful proportions, seven of which are standing,
make it the most beautiful and impressive of all the ruins in
the Hauran. M. Rey gives an approximately correct plan of
this building and a sketch of it in Plate VIII ; Porter gives a
plan, which, however, is incorrect, and others have noticed it
in their descriptions of the city of Kanatha. An inscription 2
which was found near the ruin indicates that this temple was
dedicated to Helios. This matter is discussed by Dr. Pren-
tice in Part III of this publication. The temple faces the
1 De Laborde, Voyage de la Syrie, Pl. 54, p. 114; also Rey, Voyage dans le Haouran, Pl. VIII. 2 Part III, insc. 407.
Fig. 125. Plan of peripteral tem-
ple at Kanaw&t.