DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0055
104
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
long undivided room, reached only from the roof of the narthex. Section A-B (Ill. 81)
shows these chapels on either hand, the two-storied chamber at the east end of the
side aisles, and the apse, with its chancel-arch carried on engaged columns with ancient
Corinthian capitals. Of the nave arcades two arches are standing, one on the south
side next to the apse, and the middle arch on the north side. The piers of the other
arches are partly preserved. In Section C—D (Pl. VIII) the west fagade of the church
is shown in the middle. This is necessarily in large part conjectured·, though the wall
of the ground story, with its three portals, is quite intact and the columns of the nar-
thex lie near their bases which are in situ. The middle intercolumniation was wider
than the others, and a question arises as to how the roof of stone slabs above this
arch could have been constructed without elevating it above the sills of the doorways
that opened upon it from the rooms above the side chapels. I adopted the expedient
of placing a flat stone roof above the lower arches and a double pitched roof over
the higher arch. The lines of the parapet above this stone roof are allowed to follow
the arrangement in the elevation (Pl. VIII Sec. C—D). The upper portions of the
facade are restored entirely as an hypothesis drawn from the facades of other churches
in Syria. The longitudinal section presented in Plate IX Section E—F, shows the long
side of the nave, the front wall of the buildings on the south side of the atrium, the
arcade in front of them, and a cut through the entrance and a tower above it. It
is quite certain that a double pitched roof of wood covered the middle aisle, and this
has been restored hypothetically, the height of the clearstory is assumed from the
height of the south wall of the chapel which is preserved to its top ; but the number
of windows and their form is, of course, only conjectured. I am in doubt as to whether
the side aisles were roofed in stone or in wood. The south aisle wall is preserved to
the height shown in Section E-F, and it is quite level from end to end. This height
is lower than that of the arches of the main arcade, one of which is standing. Slant-
ing roofs of stone were apparently unknown as aisle coverings, so that it would seem
as if the roof must have been of wood. But, in view of the fact that a doorway in
the chamber above the prothesis opened upon that roof, one might assume that the
south aisle wall was originally as high as the arches of the main arcade and that the
aisle roof was flat. The heights of the front wall of the buildings on the south of the
atrium were obtained from sections of that wall that are preserved entire. The height
of the cloister arches is given by one pier which has been preserved, the levels above
it were fixed by the levels of the door-sills of the upper story. Data are to be had
in the ruins for the restoration of the entrance passage; but the tower above it is
entirely conjectural. That a tower existed here was suggested by the enormous height
of the debris in the middle of the west wall; the form I have given it is taken from the
church tower in Tafha. 1 The lintel and jambs of the great portal, a detail of which
is given in Plate VIII, are so richly moulded and so well executed that it seems pro-
bable that the doorway was taken bodily from the temple, or other structure, of the
Roman period that occupied this site. The photograph (Ill. 8o) illustrates the present
confused state of this ruin. It was taken from point P on the plan, and shows, in the
foreground, a mass of mediaeval partition walls; beyond is the front wall of the nave
with two of the doorways, and a corbel course for the support of the stone roof of
’ s.c. Pl. 17.
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
long undivided room, reached only from the roof of the narthex. Section A-B (Ill. 81)
shows these chapels on either hand, the two-storied chamber at the east end of the
side aisles, and the apse, with its chancel-arch carried on engaged columns with ancient
Corinthian capitals. Of the nave arcades two arches are standing, one on the south
side next to the apse, and the middle arch on the north side. The piers of the other
arches are partly preserved. In Section C—D (Pl. VIII) the west fagade of the church
is shown in the middle. This is necessarily in large part conjectured·, though the wall
of the ground story, with its three portals, is quite intact and the columns of the nar-
thex lie near their bases which are in situ. The middle intercolumniation was wider
than the others, and a question arises as to how the roof of stone slabs above this
arch could have been constructed without elevating it above the sills of the doorways
that opened upon it from the rooms above the side chapels. I adopted the expedient
of placing a flat stone roof above the lower arches and a double pitched roof over
the higher arch. The lines of the parapet above this stone roof are allowed to follow
the arrangement in the elevation (Pl. VIII Sec. C—D). The upper portions of the
facade are restored entirely as an hypothesis drawn from the facades of other churches
in Syria. The longitudinal section presented in Plate IX Section E—F, shows the long
side of the nave, the front wall of the buildings on the south side of the atrium, the
arcade in front of them, and a cut through the entrance and a tower above it. It
is quite certain that a double pitched roof of wood covered the middle aisle, and this
has been restored hypothetically, the height of the clearstory is assumed from the
height of the south wall of the chapel which is preserved to its top ; but the number
of windows and their form is, of course, only conjectured. I am in doubt as to whether
the side aisles were roofed in stone or in wood. The south aisle wall is preserved to
the height shown in Section E-F, and it is quite level from end to end. This height
is lower than that of the arches of the main arcade, one of which is standing. Slant-
ing roofs of stone were apparently unknown as aisle coverings, so that it would seem
as if the roof must have been of wood. But, in view of the fact that a doorway in
the chamber above the prothesis opened upon that roof, one might assume that the
south aisle wall was originally as high as the arches of the main arcade and that the
aisle roof was flat. The heights of the front wall of the buildings on the south of the
atrium were obtained from sections of that wall that are preserved entire. The height
of the cloister arches is given by one pier which has been preserved, the levels above
it were fixed by the levels of the door-sills of the upper story. Data are to be had
in the ruins for the restoration of the entrance passage; but the tower above it is
entirely conjectural. That a tower existed here was suggested by the enormous height
of the debris in the middle of the west wall; the form I have given it is taken from the
church tower in Tafha. 1 The lintel and jambs of the great portal, a detail of which
is given in Plate VIII, are so richly moulded and so well executed that it seems pro-
bable that the doorway was taken bodily from the temple, or other structure, of the
Roman period that occupied this site. The photograph (Ill. 8o) illustrates the present
confused state of this ruin. It was taken from point P on the plan, and shows, in the
foreground, a mass of mediaeval partition walls; beyond is the front wall of the nave
with two of the doorways, and a corbel course for the support of the stone roof of
’ s.c. Pl. 17.