DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44946#0039
cArak il-Emir.
I I
outlines of which are distinct though the details of the carving are effaced, and from
broken fragments extracted from the ruins. Fragment io, found at the northwest angle
is one side of the cap of the angle pilaster. Its volutes and foliage spring from the
top of the head of one of the lions — the first lion at the north end of the west
side of the building. This shows that the lion figures were carried to the extreme ends
of the walls and across the pilasters. The positions of the lions at the two ends of the
east wall show the same treatment. For this reason I did not hesitate to place the
tails of the adjacent lions, on the north wall, below the pilaster caps. The fragment io
gives also the crest and part of the ear of a lion, and the fragment shown in the
photograph (Ill. 6, Frag. 10), gives the breast, shoulder and upper part of the leg of
a lion, while two small fragments show the upper and the lower jaws. M. de Saulcy
gives a sketch of a lion’s paw. The combination of these pieces, upon the outlines
furnished by the extant figures, presents a mixture that suggests both Phoenician and
Persian sculptures, a mixture represented also in the character of the architecture.
The capitals and half capitals lying in the ruined porch are of a unique form, as may
be seen in Ill. 5, N°. 11, a and b, and in the photograph (Ill. 6, Frag. 11). I have
referred to them as Persian for the reason that they appear to have been composed
of animal heads. They are all alike in shape and in surface treatment, and are of the
same size and design as the numerous half capitals found in the interior. The front
view of one of these capitals shows the breasts and necks of two animals, the heads
are also shown ·, but the faces are represented by flat trapezoids. On the bell of the
capital, between the heads, is the rough outline of a bird, presumably an eagle, with
wings raised, perched upon a triangular shield. The whole surface, of the animal
heads and the bird, is in every case worked down so that the appearance and dimen-
sions of all the capitals are the same; yet the surface is not smoothly finished, so that
we are forced to accept one of two conclusions: either that the details were blocked
out for the finer sculptors’ work that was never carried out even in a single instance,
or that metal details were to be applied to the stone, and the absence of nail holes
would seem to indicate that this was never accomplished. The outlines and proportions
of the figures, as we see them now, are best suited for transformation into horses’
heads, though one might conceive of bulls’ heads of the Persian type as being executed
in the block forms, or applied in metal. I have represented the half columns in the
porch (Plate III, Sec. A. B.) without bases, because I could not reach the bottoms of
the shafts. And I have shown half columns of the Doric order in the upper story to
correspond with the Doric half column on the inside end of the fragment 8. The
height of the portal was not obtainable, but the width was easily found, with the details
of the lintel, as shown in fragment 14, and Plate III. In making a restoration of the
interior, (Plate III) I have confined myself to the side walls and the staircase which were
the only portions for which there were any considerable data upon the surface. For
the rest excavations are necessary. The restorations of the interior already made are,
in my opinion, at fault. M. de Vogue, following the suggestion made by the interior
cross walls, divides the sides into three chambers each, these opening upon an hypaethral
court, and provides the chambers with transverse tunnel vaults. I believe, as I have
said above, that the present interior walls are of very late addition; they are poorly
built of small, crudely broken stones mixed with better cut blocks, and are not in
keeping with the megalithic character of the transverse walls at either end. I am
I I
outlines of which are distinct though the details of the carving are effaced, and from
broken fragments extracted from the ruins. Fragment io, found at the northwest angle
is one side of the cap of the angle pilaster. Its volutes and foliage spring from the
top of the head of one of the lions — the first lion at the north end of the west
side of the building. This shows that the lion figures were carried to the extreme ends
of the walls and across the pilasters. The positions of the lions at the two ends of the
east wall show the same treatment. For this reason I did not hesitate to place the
tails of the adjacent lions, on the north wall, below the pilaster caps. The fragment io
gives also the crest and part of the ear of a lion, and the fragment shown in the
photograph (Ill. 6, Frag. 10), gives the breast, shoulder and upper part of the leg of
a lion, while two small fragments show the upper and the lower jaws. M. de Saulcy
gives a sketch of a lion’s paw. The combination of these pieces, upon the outlines
furnished by the extant figures, presents a mixture that suggests both Phoenician and
Persian sculptures, a mixture represented also in the character of the architecture.
The capitals and half capitals lying in the ruined porch are of a unique form, as may
be seen in Ill. 5, N°. 11, a and b, and in the photograph (Ill. 6, Frag. 11). I have
referred to them as Persian for the reason that they appear to have been composed
of animal heads. They are all alike in shape and in surface treatment, and are of the
same size and design as the numerous half capitals found in the interior. The front
view of one of these capitals shows the breasts and necks of two animals, the heads
are also shown ·, but the faces are represented by flat trapezoids. On the bell of the
capital, between the heads, is the rough outline of a bird, presumably an eagle, with
wings raised, perched upon a triangular shield. The whole surface, of the animal
heads and the bird, is in every case worked down so that the appearance and dimen-
sions of all the capitals are the same; yet the surface is not smoothly finished, so that
we are forced to accept one of two conclusions: either that the details were blocked
out for the finer sculptors’ work that was never carried out even in a single instance,
or that metal details were to be applied to the stone, and the absence of nail holes
would seem to indicate that this was never accomplished. The outlines and proportions
of the figures, as we see them now, are best suited for transformation into horses’
heads, though one might conceive of bulls’ heads of the Persian type as being executed
in the block forms, or applied in metal. I have represented the half columns in the
porch (Plate III, Sec. A. B.) without bases, because I could not reach the bottoms of
the shafts. And I have shown half columns of the Doric order in the upper story to
correspond with the Doric half column on the inside end of the fragment 8. The
height of the portal was not obtainable, but the width was easily found, with the details
of the lintel, as shown in fragment 14, and Plate III. In making a restoration of the
interior, (Plate III) I have confined myself to the side walls and the staircase which were
the only portions for which there were any considerable data upon the surface. For
the rest excavations are necessary. The restorations of the interior already made are,
in my opinion, at fault. M. de Vogue, following the suggestion made by the interior
cross walls, divides the sides into three chambers each, these opening upon an hypaethral
court, and provides the chambers with transverse tunnel vaults. I believe, as I have
said above, that the present interior walls are of very late addition; they are poorly
built of small, crudely broken stones mixed with better cut blocks, and are not in
keeping with the megalithic character of the transverse walls at either end. I am