DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44946#0093
cAmman {Philadelphia}
S7
that the half column must have been of the nature of a respond in the wall, and
that the colonnade, following the line of the wall, turned northward at both ends for
a distance of two or more intercolumniations, and to this extent, my plan differs from
Captain Conder's. For a more complete understanding of the ruin it is necessary to
discuss the plans more in detail. I trust that the placing of the plans of two floors
in such close proximity as they are given in Ill. 38, will not prove confusing. It was
exceedingly difficult to obtain data for the plan of the ground floor, except at the west
end, where the broad vaulted passage 5.90 m. wide, and 7 m. deep, extends below the
platform, and opens in the front of the building through the arch already described.
The walls are exceedingly thick at the foundations and slope backward from the base
to a height of 3 meters. In the wall on the east side of the great apse there is a
narrow arched opening that leads to a vaulted chamber corresponding to the vaulted
passage on the opposite side of the great apse. This chamber was full of debris and
filth, and it was not possible to secure its dimensions with accuracy. There is another
vaulted chamber between these two, beneath the part of the platform in front of the
great apse. It is reached from an underground stable in front of the ruin; but it is
nearly filled with debris and could not be measured exactly. With the aid of a candle,
I could see the curve of an arch which I took to be the front of a half dome under the
main apsis. Within the stable ’there is to be seen a fragment of a niche, apparently
in situ, in the wall of the platform. These underground places in front of the platform,
with openings leading into vaulted chambers under the platform, seem to show that
the whole space in front of the building has been filled in, and that the original level
in front of the platform was as low as the bottom of the trench at the west. The plan
of the upper level, i. e. the level of the platform, is perfectly definite. The main wall
formed a huge polygonal exedra with apses, or minor exedras, in three of its sides.
In front of it a platform, 7 m. wide, followed the angles of the wall, and, upon the
edge of the platform, stood a colonnade with varying intercolumniations.
Superstructure. Upon this plan a restoration of the upper floor is not difficult, with
the data at hand; but the arrangement of the lower floor cannot be definitely known
without excavations. If we accept the theory that the open space in front of the
building has been filled in, and that its original level was that of the lower arch, we
should have a lower great exedra formed by the wall of the platform, and if the design
of this is to be balanced, we should have another arch, opening from it into the vaulted
chamber on the left, and, perhaps, a central arch besides. The set-off above the arches
would form a sort of gallery across the main section · this had at least two niches upon
it, and there may have been a row from end to end. Depending upon the purpose of
the building, there may have been a great flight of steps leading from the lower level
up to the central apsis. In the upper floor the wall with its double rows of niches,
its half domed apses and its colonnades, is easily restored. Modern dwellings conceal
considerable portions of it, but few details are wanting. The halfdome of the great
apse was constructed in a manner just the reverse of the usual method; the courses,
instead coverging toward a keystone at the crown of the apse-arch, radiate from
a centre at the top of the middle of the wall of the apse (Ill. 38). The lines of the
coursing are thus vertical instead of horizontal semicircles. 1 he two niches shown
on the right of the main apsis are preserved inside the modern house (Ill. 38) and
the ancient pavement of the platform forms the floor of the same house. On the
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria, Div. II, Sec. A. Pt. I. 8
S7
that the half column must have been of the nature of a respond in the wall, and
that the colonnade, following the line of the wall, turned northward at both ends for
a distance of two or more intercolumniations, and to this extent, my plan differs from
Captain Conder's. For a more complete understanding of the ruin it is necessary to
discuss the plans more in detail. I trust that the placing of the plans of two floors
in such close proximity as they are given in Ill. 38, will not prove confusing. It was
exceedingly difficult to obtain data for the plan of the ground floor, except at the west
end, where the broad vaulted passage 5.90 m. wide, and 7 m. deep, extends below the
platform, and opens in the front of the building through the arch already described.
The walls are exceedingly thick at the foundations and slope backward from the base
to a height of 3 meters. In the wall on the east side of the great apse there is a
narrow arched opening that leads to a vaulted chamber corresponding to the vaulted
passage on the opposite side of the great apse. This chamber was full of debris and
filth, and it was not possible to secure its dimensions with accuracy. There is another
vaulted chamber between these two, beneath the part of the platform in front of the
great apse. It is reached from an underground stable in front of the ruin; but it is
nearly filled with debris and could not be measured exactly. With the aid of a candle,
I could see the curve of an arch which I took to be the front of a half dome under the
main apsis. Within the stable ’there is to be seen a fragment of a niche, apparently
in situ, in the wall of the platform. These underground places in front of the platform,
with openings leading into vaulted chambers under the platform, seem to show that
the whole space in front of the building has been filled in, and that the original level
in front of the platform was as low as the bottom of the trench at the west. The plan
of the upper level, i. e. the level of the platform, is perfectly definite. The main wall
formed a huge polygonal exedra with apses, or minor exedras, in three of its sides.
In front of it a platform, 7 m. wide, followed the angles of the wall, and, upon the
edge of the platform, stood a colonnade with varying intercolumniations.
Superstructure. Upon this plan a restoration of the upper floor is not difficult, with
the data at hand; but the arrangement of the lower floor cannot be definitely known
without excavations. If we accept the theory that the open space in front of the
building has been filled in, and that its original level was that of the lower arch, we
should have a lower great exedra formed by the wall of the platform, and if the design
of this is to be balanced, we should have another arch, opening from it into the vaulted
chamber on the left, and, perhaps, a central arch besides. The set-off above the arches
would form a sort of gallery across the main section · this had at least two niches upon
it, and there may have been a row from end to end. Depending upon the purpose of
the building, there may have been a great flight of steps leading from the lower level
up to the central apsis. In the upper floor the wall with its double rows of niches,
its half domed apses and its colonnades, is easily restored. Modern dwellings conceal
considerable portions of it, but few details are wanting. The halfdome of the great
apse was constructed in a manner just the reverse of the usual method; the courses,
instead coverging toward a keystone at the crown of the apse-arch, radiate from
a centre at the top of the middle of the wall of the apse (Ill. 38). The lines of the
coursing are thus vertical instead of horizontal semicircles. 1 he two niches shown
on the right of the main apsis are preserved inside the modern house (Ill. 38) and
the ancient pavement of the platform forms the floor of the same house. On the
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria, Div. II, Sec. A. Pt. I. 8