DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0025
78
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
The plan bears a most striking resemblance to that of a bath at Kosfer cAmra recently
published by Prof. Alois Musil. 1 The number and arrangement of the rooms is almost
precisely the same, and the similarity in dimensions is quite remarkable. The longer
axis of the plan (Ill. 59) lies north and south; that of the bath at cAmra lies east and
west. The entrance was through a sort of vestibule, now much ruined, at the north
end. This opens into a broad passage with a pointed tunnel-vault still well preserved,
through which one passes into a chamber, 3.15 m. square, with half-domed niches ope-
ning to the east and west, and a small dome above, suspended on pendentives, and
pierced with small round windows. South of the domed chamber is a square apartment
with a cross-vault still intact; from this, on the east side, opens a square recess with
a tunnel-vault. A small doorway in its west wall leads into an uncovered chamber
which may have been roofed in wood. From this chamber one passes, through a door-
way on the south, into the ruins of a large chamber which appears to have had two
rows of transverse arches that divided it into three aisles; the north side aisle was a
in. 59·
little7 narrower than the other two which were of equal width. In the bath at Amra
the vaults are carried by two arches of a single span; in this case the piers are too
high for such an arrangement, and the fragments of columns in the ruin suggest that
the plan of the mosque at Kos£r il-Hallabat was followed. The middle aisle was pro-
longed eastward in a deep recess which was tunnel-vaulted in stone. In the north and
south walls of this recess are doorways leading into nearly square apartments, of which
that on the north has a tunnel-vault still intact, and a small tunnel-vaulted recess pro-
truding at its northeast angle. The foundations of a similar chamber and recess were
found on the south side; but the superstructure is in ruins. Upon this ground plan
a structure of excellent architectural quality was built, all of highly finished limestone,
except the dome and a number of vaults which were of concrete. The dome (Ill. 60)
is supported by pendentives of the Persian style in which a system of small, superposed
conches, set on a curve, carries the lines of the square substructure gradually upward
1 Sitzungsberichte der k. Abad. d. Wise. in Wien. Phil.-hist. Klasse^ Bd. CXLIV^ 7.
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
The plan bears a most striking resemblance to that of a bath at Kosfer cAmra recently
published by Prof. Alois Musil. 1 The number and arrangement of the rooms is almost
precisely the same, and the similarity in dimensions is quite remarkable. The longer
axis of the plan (Ill. 59) lies north and south; that of the bath at cAmra lies east and
west. The entrance was through a sort of vestibule, now much ruined, at the north
end. This opens into a broad passage with a pointed tunnel-vault still well preserved,
through which one passes into a chamber, 3.15 m. square, with half-domed niches ope-
ning to the east and west, and a small dome above, suspended on pendentives, and
pierced with small round windows. South of the domed chamber is a square apartment
with a cross-vault still intact; from this, on the east side, opens a square recess with
a tunnel-vault. A small doorway in its west wall leads into an uncovered chamber
which may have been roofed in wood. From this chamber one passes, through a door-
way on the south, into the ruins of a large chamber which appears to have had two
rows of transverse arches that divided it into three aisles; the north side aisle was a
in. 59·
little7 narrower than the other two which were of equal width. In the bath at Amra
the vaults are carried by two arches of a single span; in this case the piers are too
high for such an arrangement, and the fragments of columns in the ruin suggest that
the plan of the mosque at Kos£r il-Hallabat was followed. The middle aisle was pro-
longed eastward in a deep recess which was tunnel-vaulted in stone. In the north and
south walls of this recess are doorways leading into nearly square apartments, of which
that on the north has a tunnel-vault still intact, and a small tunnel-vaulted recess pro-
truding at its northeast angle. The foundations of a similar chamber and recess were
found on the south side; but the superstructure is in ruins. Upon this ground plan
a structure of excellent architectural quality was built, all of highly finished limestone,
except the dome and a number of vaults which were of concrete. The dome (Ill. 60)
is supported by pendentives of the Persian style in which a system of small, superposed
conches, set on a curve, carries the lines of the square substructure gradually upward
1 Sitzungsberichte der k. Abad. d. Wise. in Wien. Phil.-hist. Klasse^ Bd. CXLIV^ 7.