DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44946#0083
'Amman {Philadelphia}.
49
praecinctiones, and the mouldings and other details of the seats and steps. The details
of the exedra at the top of the cavea could not be accurately drawn, owing to the
fact that the place has been converted into a modern dwelling. It appears to be well
preserved. Two columns stand in the opening of the exedra, supporting an architrave
and an arched pediment (Ill. 31). The spaces between the columns, and on either side of
them, have been filled with walling pierced with a door and windows, and the pediment
has two windows in it. The whole surface is covered with mud plaster, so that nothing
but the chief dimensions of the exedra are obtainable. I was told that there were
three niches within the exedra, and I have shown them in the plan and elevations as
they were described to me. The extension of the cavea toward the north was, of
course, entirely artificial. The lowest of its vaulted passages are preserved on both
sides, with their ornamental arches which opened upon the orchestra. These arches
are in line with the sixth tier, from the top, of the lowest division of seats. Above the
arches were five tiers of seats. The outer ends of these passages were undoubtedly
open, though they are closed now, so far as we may see in the accumulation of debris;
for this reason I have shown walls in the plan closing the ends, but in section A B
I have shown an arched opening at the left end. The remains of the next vaulted
passage, i. e., that on the level of the first praecinctio, consist of a pavement and two
side walls on the west side (Ill. 32), and a pavement on the side opposite (Ill. 33).
Of the uppermost passage no remnant remains, but it unquestionably existed. In
section CD of Plate IV, a cut through the three vaults is shown on the left, with
the ends of the curved passages opening upon them; on the right is shown the plain
outer wall that rose from the pavement of the parados to the top of the end of the
cavea. It is impossible, in the present condition of the ruins, to find out definitely the
width or disposition of the paradoi. Owing to the distance between the cavea and the
foundations of the scaena, it seems certain that there were open spaces on either side
between the ends of the cavea and the stage buildings. However, there seem to have
been walls at the ends of the paradoi, as may be observed in Ill. 32, where an ancient
wall, now employed as the east wall of a modern dwelling, is seen, abutting the end
of the cavea at the level of the lower praecinctio. The lower part of this wall is
deeply buried in debris, and it is impossible to say whether there was an opening in
it on the orchestra level at the end of the parados. It may have been that the ends
of the paradoi were closed, and that the paradoi were used exclusively by the chorus
(see small restored plan above section A B); while the vaulted passages below the
ends of the cavea were the means of entrance and exit for the audience. One would
hardly detect the remains of stage buildings in the ruins of this theatre without searching
for them. Some writers have even gone so far as to say that the theatre of Phila-
delphia had no stage. The foundations of these buildings are indeed almost completely
buried, only the upper surface of the stones can be seen in the general level of the
soil, and this surface is worn smooth with constant passing. In the plan I have shown
the foundations as they appear. To the left of the line which bisects the cavea are
foundations which show a semicircle and a quadrant facing the cavea; the quadrant
terminates in a short projecting wall: the rear part of these foundations is perfectly
straight, and three meters from it are the foundations of a wall, 1.10 m. thick, composed
entirely of headers. On the right of the line which bisects the cavea there are no
traces of foundations now visible as far as a modern wall; but on the other side of
Publications cf the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria,, Div. II, Sec. A. Pt. i. 7
49
praecinctiones, and the mouldings and other details of the seats and steps. The details
of the exedra at the top of the cavea could not be accurately drawn, owing to the
fact that the place has been converted into a modern dwelling. It appears to be well
preserved. Two columns stand in the opening of the exedra, supporting an architrave
and an arched pediment (Ill. 31). The spaces between the columns, and on either side of
them, have been filled with walling pierced with a door and windows, and the pediment
has two windows in it. The whole surface is covered with mud plaster, so that nothing
but the chief dimensions of the exedra are obtainable. I was told that there were
three niches within the exedra, and I have shown them in the plan and elevations as
they were described to me. The extension of the cavea toward the north was, of
course, entirely artificial. The lowest of its vaulted passages are preserved on both
sides, with their ornamental arches which opened upon the orchestra. These arches
are in line with the sixth tier, from the top, of the lowest division of seats. Above the
arches were five tiers of seats. The outer ends of these passages were undoubtedly
open, though they are closed now, so far as we may see in the accumulation of debris;
for this reason I have shown walls in the plan closing the ends, but in section A B
I have shown an arched opening at the left end. The remains of the next vaulted
passage, i. e., that on the level of the first praecinctio, consist of a pavement and two
side walls on the west side (Ill. 32), and a pavement on the side opposite (Ill. 33).
Of the uppermost passage no remnant remains, but it unquestionably existed. In
section CD of Plate IV, a cut through the three vaults is shown on the left, with
the ends of the curved passages opening upon them; on the right is shown the plain
outer wall that rose from the pavement of the parados to the top of the end of the
cavea. It is impossible, in the present condition of the ruins, to find out definitely the
width or disposition of the paradoi. Owing to the distance between the cavea and the
foundations of the scaena, it seems certain that there were open spaces on either side
between the ends of the cavea and the stage buildings. However, there seem to have
been walls at the ends of the paradoi, as may be observed in Ill. 32, where an ancient
wall, now employed as the east wall of a modern dwelling, is seen, abutting the end
of the cavea at the level of the lower praecinctio. The lower part of this wall is
deeply buried in debris, and it is impossible to say whether there was an opening in
it on the orchestra level at the end of the parados. It may have been that the ends
of the paradoi were closed, and that the paradoi were used exclusively by the chorus
(see small restored plan above section A B); while the vaulted passages below the
ends of the cavea were the means of entrance and exit for the audience. One would
hardly detect the remains of stage buildings in the ruins of this theatre without searching
for them. Some writers have even gone so far as to say that the theatre of Phila-
delphia had no stage. The foundations of these buildings are indeed almost completely
buried, only the upper surface of the stones can be seen in the general level of the
soil, and this surface is worn smooth with constant passing. In the plan I have shown
the foundations as they appear. To the left of the line which bisects the cavea are
foundations which show a semicircle and a quadrant facing the cavea; the quadrant
terminates in a short projecting wall: the rear part of these foundations is perfectly
straight, and three meters from it are the foundations of a wall, 1.10 m. thick, composed
entirely of headers. On the right of the line which bisects the cavea there are no
traces of foundations now visible as far as a modern wall; but on the other side of
Publications cf the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria,, Div. II, Sec. A. Pt. i. 7