DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0451
SCULPTURE
419
Kanawat. This, too, is a female figure, fully draped and standing erect with feet
together, and holding a garland of floweis tightly across the hips. The longdrapery
folds curve back on either side, drawing ciosely against the limbs in front, as if blown
by the wind, while the upper drapery falls loosely
from the breast and conceals the girdle that holds it
in place. The figure is not carved at the back, and
was in all probability part of the sculptured decoration
of the temple.
At the opposite end of the same ruined town,
between the Seraya and the temple of Zeus, is the
fragment of a colossal head which was called Astarte
by Dr. Porter, who saw it in 1860, and which has
been familiarly mentioned by travelers since that
time. It now lies nearer to the Seraya than to the
temple of Zeus, upon the pavement to the west of the
former building, but it is impossible to say of which
of these buildings it was a part, if it belonged to
either of them. The fragment consists of a rather thin piece of stone upon which is
carved the upper part of a great face, inciuding a part of the upper lip and a fringe of
heavy locks across the brow and down beside the right temple. In the middle of thc
forehead, next to the hair, is a flatly crescent-shaped band connected on the right side
with a band of scale ornament which extended back into the hair. The features were
carved with considerable skill, if one may judge by the eyes and brow; the former
are well modeled, though fixed and staring,
and the brow is lowered above the nose, im-
parting a severe if not terrible expression.
Judging from the thinness of the fragment and
the want of rotundity in the portion of the face
that has been preserved, I should judge that
the face was attached to a wall, possibly the
wall of a temple. The arches which spanned
the central intercolumniation in most of the
temples in the Hauran would preclude the
possibility of pediment sculptures in most
cases, except in the angles of the pediment.
Shehba. The later phase of classic sculpture in the Hauran is illustrated in a
few fragments at Shehba. A torso in the round, about half of the size of nature,
was seen and photographed by Dr. Littmann. It was apparently a figure of a nymph
or a victory. The breast is thrown out, as if in the act of flying or running. The
Colossal head in low relief near the Seraya at Kanawat.
419
Kanawat. This, too, is a female figure, fully draped and standing erect with feet
together, and holding a garland of floweis tightly across the hips. The longdrapery
folds curve back on either side, drawing ciosely against the limbs in front, as if blown
by the wind, while the upper drapery falls loosely
from the breast and conceals the girdle that holds it
in place. The figure is not carved at the back, and
was in all probability part of the sculptured decoration
of the temple.
At the opposite end of the same ruined town,
between the Seraya and the temple of Zeus, is the
fragment of a colossal head which was called Astarte
by Dr. Porter, who saw it in 1860, and which has
been familiarly mentioned by travelers since that
time. It now lies nearer to the Seraya than to the
temple of Zeus, upon the pavement to the west of the
former building, but it is impossible to say of which
of these buildings it was a part, if it belonged to
either of them. The fragment consists of a rather thin piece of stone upon which is
carved the upper part of a great face, inciuding a part of the upper lip and a fringe of
heavy locks across the brow and down beside the right temple. In the middle of thc
forehead, next to the hair, is a flatly crescent-shaped band connected on the right side
with a band of scale ornament which extended back into the hair. The features were
carved with considerable skill, if one may judge by the eyes and brow; the former
are well modeled, though fixed and staring,
and the brow is lowered above the nose, im-
parting a severe if not terrible expression.
Judging from the thinness of the fragment and
the want of rotundity in the portion of the face
that has been preserved, I should judge that
the face was attached to a wall, possibly the
wall of a temple. The arches which spanned
the central intercolumniation in most of the
temples in the Hauran would preclude the
possibility of pediment sculptures in most
cases, except in the angles of the pediment.
Shehba. The later phase of classic sculpture in the Hauran is illustrated in a
few fragments at Shehba. A torso in the round, about half of the size of nature,
was seen and photographed by Dr. Littmann. It was apparently a figure of a nymph
or a victory. The breast is thrown out, as if in the act of flying or running. The
Colossal head in low relief near the Seraya at Kanawat.