DOI Artikel:
Byliński, Janusz: Survey of the Arab castle in Palmyra, 1993
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43746#0156
In the catastrophe that ruined Tower XI, terrace wall B
collapsed and part of the terrace floor was ripped off. After the
tower’s ceiling and the outer walls had been restored, the remain-
ing gap was filled with small stones and plaster debris, probably
originating from wall B, when it was finally dismantled. The same
debris with some potsherds covered the remaining terrace floor. It
is in this debris that we vainly searched for evidence of Ottoman
restorations. On the contrary, the fill above the repaired ceiling
yielded a sherd of 14^ century Mamluk "tri-color underglaze".
Although it is definitely too little in the way of evidence for a
Mamluk date of the last reconstruction, it is nevertheless a
teentative corroboration of our observations concerning the
architecture of this phase, which might well belong to the 13^—
14*h century repertory. An extension of this trench, planned for the
coming season, which should also be the last of the survey, could
bring more positive proof.
The most recent phase of the construction of this locus is
represented by modest remains of walls built over a layer o/
mudbrick levelling. These walls probably belonged to a more
recent phase when the castle was no longer used as a military
stronghold and became instead the refuge or seat of local tribal
lords. In the topmost layer, corresponding to these walls, an
ostracon with a Quranic inscription in ink, in rather modem Naskh
characters, was found. The medium used for this inscription was
a sherd of a hard, red clay vessel with mineral accretions all over
the surface and the text superimposed. This is proof that the sherd
was used long after it had been abandoned. Sherds of the same
tvpe were very common in the castle.
153
collapsed and part of the terrace floor was ripped off. After the
tower’s ceiling and the outer walls had been restored, the remain-
ing gap was filled with small stones and plaster debris, probably
originating from wall B, when it was finally dismantled. The same
debris with some potsherds covered the remaining terrace floor. It
is in this debris that we vainly searched for evidence of Ottoman
restorations. On the contrary, the fill above the repaired ceiling
yielded a sherd of 14^ century Mamluk "tri-color underglaze".
Although it is definitely too little in the way of evidence for a
Mamluk date of the last reconstruction, it is nevertheless a
teentative corroboration of our observations concerning the
architecture of this phase, which might well belong to the 13^—
14*h century repertory. An extension of this trench, planned for the
coming season, which should also be the last of the survey, could
bring more positive proof.
The most recent phase of the construction of this locus is
represented by modest remains of walls built over a layer o/
mudbrick levelling. These walls probably belonged to a more
recent phase when the castle was no longer used as a military
stronghold and became instead the refuge or seat of local tribal
lords. In the topmost layer, corresponding to these walls, an
ostracon with a Quranic inscription in ink, in rather modem Naskh
characters, was found. The medium used for this inscription was
a sherd of a hard, red clay vessel with mineral accretions all over
the surface and the text superimposed. This is proof that the sherd
was used long after it had been abandoned. Sherds of the same
tvpe were very common in the castle.
153