DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0421
ROMAN PERIOD
389
but the interior walls were resplendent with a lining of marble and Oriental alabaster.
As may be seen in the accompanying photographs, the interior surface of these walls
is pierced with hundreds of small holes regularly disposed, which were originally fitted
with clamps that held the marble slabs of the revetment in place. Small fragments of
rich marbles two centimeters thick were found in abundance in the debris along the
walls. Alabaster seems to have been lavishly used, but this, being highly perishable,
has crumbled into small bits, one of which, ten centimeters square, when polished, was
found to be of great beauty.
The vaulted ceilings and the upper portions of the niches were plastered and orna-
mented with plaster moldings in geometrical patterns and brightly painted. Numer-
ous patches of this painted decoration are still to be seen on the more protected
portions of the vaulting.
In the reentrant angle of the wall between the westernmost compartment of the
southern section of the bath and the room which projects beyond it on the northwest
is a rectangular opening in the wall, which forms a passage running diagonally from
the angle on the exterior to the surface of the wall within. This passage is
2 m. or more above the present level of the bath, which is much filled up. It is about
1.25 m. high and .60 m. wide, and is lined with a coating of plaster. This, I believe,
is a part of the main water-conduit which connected the bath with the reservoir near
by. On the south wall of the irregularly shaped compartment, on a level with the
bottom of this conduit, one may see a projecting course of stone which may have been
part of the conduit, as it was carried farther into the building.
In the angle at the southwest, between the two sections of the baths, is a detached
Aqueduct and public baths at Shehba, from the south.
389
but the interior walls were resplendent with a lining of marble and Oriental alabaster.
As may be seen in the accompanying photographs, the interior surface of these walls
is pierced with hundreds of small holes regularly disposed, which were originally fitted
with clamps that held the marble slabs of the revetment in place. Small fragments of
rich marbles two centimeters thick were found in abundance in the debris along the
walls. Alabaster seems to have been lavishly used, but this, being highly perishable,
has crumbled into small bits, one of which, ten centimeters square, when polished, was
found to be of great beauty.
The vaulted ceilings and the upper portions of the niches were plastered and orna-
mented with plaster moldings in geometrical patterns and brightly painted. Numer-
ous patches of this painted decoration are still to be seen on the more protected
portions of the vaulting.
In the reentrant angle of the wall between the westernmost compartment of the
southern section of the bath and the room which projects beyond it on the northwest
is a rectangular opening in the wall, which forms a passage running diagonally from
the angle on the exterior to the surface of the wall within. This passage is
2 m. or more above the present level of the bath, which is much filled up. It is about
1.25 m. high and .60 m. wide, and is lined with a coating of plaster. This, I believe,
is a part of the main water-conduit which connected the bath with the reservoir near
by. On the south wall of the irregularly shaped compartment, on a level with the
bottom of this conduit, one may see a projecting course of stone which may have been
part of the conduit, as it was carried farther into the building.
In the angle at the southwest, between the two sections of the baths, is a detached
Aqueduct and public baths at Shehba, from the south.