DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36287#0051
PALMYRA AND THE REGION OF THE HAURAN
29
blocks of stone seemed joined together, forming an unbroken surface. Disappoint-
ment was swept away in an instant, and we hurried on to inspect one of the most
superb specimens of Roman road-building now in existence. It is nearly three
quarters of a mile in length, reaching from one valley to another, and the entire
roadway, nearly six and a half meters in width, stands about a meter above its bed
of living rock. The surface was smooth and slippery, so we dismounted and went
to the top on foot. Some photographs and observations were taken in spite of
the light rain that was falling. Before we had finished these tasks a long string of
camels strode past majestically. This scene has no doubt been witnessed daily
during the past twenty centuries, or ever since the Romans completed their great
work. The road formerly crossed the plain of Sermeda and entered a narrow
valley on the farther side. No trace of it can be seen in the plain itself, for it has
been covered over by the soil which the rains have washed down from the hillsd
In the autumn we could not follow the road toward the northwest, but in the spring
of the next year we returned to this region with the special purpose of studying this
and a number of other ancient structures.^
At the southern border of the plain of Sermeda, the party separated for a while.
Some of us went directly to the camp, which had been pitched beside the village of
Dana, while the others made a rapid excursion to 'Amud Sermeda. The rare stretch
of turf selected for our ninth camping-place was naturally very wet, but some chaff
was strewn under each tent and a little of the moisture was thus absorbed. During
the night one of the guards sent by the .sALfA of the village kept himself awake—and
the rest of us also — by chanting a weird oriental melody, which accorded well with
the surroundings.
Dana is built on a low hill like an island rising out of the middle of the valley.
From it one can see ruins in many directions. There are a few ancient buildings
scattered about the village itself. I noticed there the custom of wearing a small metal
star on one side of the nose. This decoration did not appear to be common in northern
Syria, though my attention had been attracted to it in the village of Barisha. It seemed
to be a prerogative of the girls, for I did not see any grown women wearing one.
Leaving Dana late in the morning of the 25th, we went to Termanin, following the
Alexandretta and Aleppo post road. The post is carried on horseback and a much
shorter route than that of the carriage road is used. We stopped only a few moments
at the modern but substantially built village of Termanin and then went on to Der
Termanin. Half way there we passed under a telegraph wire, which seemed quite
out of place. At the convent (for that is the meaning of ZWj we made ourselves at
i On a second expedition to this country, made in the visible portions of the road and probably showing that the
spring of tgog, it was observed that a strip of soil equal in pavement is still in place beneath the present surface of the
width to the road was drier than the soil on either side, thus plain,
forming a distinct band of lighter color connecting the two 2 See pp 61 if.
29
blocks of stone seemed joined together, forming an unbroken surface. Disappoint-
ment was swept away in an instant, and we hurried on to inspect one of the most
superb specimens of Roman road-building now in existence. It is nearly three
quarters of a mile in length, reaching from one valley to another, and the entire
roadway, nearly six and a half meters in width, stands about a meter above its bed
of living rock. The surface was smooth and slippery, so we dismounted and went
to the top on foot. Some photographs and observations were taken in spite of
the light rain that was falling. Before we had finished these tasks a long string of
camels strode past majestically. This scene has no doubt been witnessed daily
during the past twenty centuries, or ever since the Romans completed their great
work. The road formerly crossed the plain of Sermeda and entered a narrow
valley on the farther side. No trace of it can be seen in the plain itself, for it has
been covered over by the soil which the rains have washed down from the hillsd
In the autumn we could not follow the road toward the northwest, but in the spring
of the next year we returned to this region with the special purpose of studying this
and a number of other ancient structures.^
At the southern border of the plain of Sermeda, the party separated for a while.
Some of us went directly to the camp, which had been pitched beside the village of
Dana, while the others made a rapid excursion to 'Amud Sermeda. The rare stretch
of turf selected for our ninth camping-place was naturally very wet, but some chaff
was strewn under each tent and a little of the moisture was thus absorbed. During
the night one of the guards sent by the .sALfA of the village kept himself awake—and
the rest of us also — by chanting a weird oriental melody, which accorded well with
the surroundings.
Dana is built on a low hill like an island rising out of the middle of the valley.
From it one can see ruins in many directions. There are a few ancient buildings
scattered about the village itself. I noticed there the custom of wearing a small metal
star on one side of the nose. This decoration did not appear to be common in northern
Syria, though my attention had been attracted to it in the village of Barisha. It seemed
to be a prerogative of the girls, for I did not see any grown women wearing one.
Leaving Dana late in the morning of the 25th, we went to Termanin, following the
Alexandretta and Aleppo post road. The post is carried on horseback and a much
shorter route than that of the carriage road is used. We stopped only a few moments
at the modern but substantially built village of Termanin and then went on to Der
Termanin. Half way there we passed under a telegraph wire, which seemed quite
out of place. At the convent (for that is the meaning of ZWj we made ourselves at
i On a second expedition to this country, made in the visible portions of the road and probably showing that the
spring of tgog, it was observed that a strip of soil equal in pavement is still in place beneath the present surface of the
width to the road was drier than the soil on either side, thus plain,
forming a distinct band of lighter color connecting the two 2 See pp 61 if.