DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0068
116
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
to the other. I saw no remains of an ancient road along this line, and no member of
our party travelled in this direction ; but it seems quite probable that a straight road
once connected these two important points, and it is not unnatural to assume that this
ruin marks the site of a caravanserai upon the road. We found here only a complex
of poorly built walls forming several long, narrow rooms which were spanned by ill
constructed arches some of which are pointed.
34. IR-RUKES.
A little north of east from il-Khan, beside the Wadi il-cAkib, is this ancient forti-
fied tell. There are no indications of separate buildings here ; an outer wall, irregular
in outline, encloses the hill, and another Avail encircles its summit; the walls were built
of boulders mixed with smaller stones. There are no hewn stones to be seen, nor any
sign that dressed blocks have been carried away to other places. A stronghold like
this was probably not intended for regular habitation, but for a place of retreat in
times of war, or perhaps even nightly in times of danger, when the flocks and herds
could be protected within the outer wall. Safaitic inscriptions found here may indicate
that this was the seat of an early Arab tribe, before the building of the oldest towns.
35. id-defyAneh.
There are upon this site only the ruins of an ancient village of medium size.
The place was occupied by the Moslems in the middle ages and was almost completely
rebuilt by them in a poor and crude manner. One of the ancient houses, which may
have belonged to the third or fourth century, was built of masonry of exceptionally
high finish, and its Avails were finished with a simple cornice consisting of a flat band
above a bevelled face. BeloAA^ the main arched room of the house was a cistern spanned
by three arches which carried the stone slabs of the floor of the main room. Another
house had a fine arched entrance upon the street. But both of these buildings Avere
so completely altered, and are so much ruined that it Avould be difficult to secure plans
of either of them. A small tower of the Moslem period, half in ruins, stands south-
east of the town, and an Arabic inscription Avas found in its ruins.
36. BEKKEH.
This site is near the northern limit of the region under discussion, and about half
way between Bosra and Salchad. It is an ancient site ιίοααγ inhabited by Druses. We
did not stop here, but, as we passed through the northeastern part of the village, we
noticed numerous sections of ancient Avails. These Avere of smooth quadrated work.
37. SOKHAR.
The proximity of Druse settlements to this site has been its destruction, and
rendered it of little architectural interest. It has been entirely destroyed for the sake
of its building stones. The site seems to have been a large town in ancient times;
it Avas probably one of the more important places of the neighbourhood. Fragments
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
to the other. I saw no remains of an ancient road along this line, and no member of
our party travelled in this direction ; but it seems quite probable that a straight road
once connected these two important points, and it is not unnatural to assume that this
ruin marks the site of a caravanserai upon the road. We found here only a complex
of poorly built walls forming several long, narrow rooms which were spanned by ill
constructed arches some of which are pointed.
34. IR-RUKES.
A little north of east from il-Khan, beside the Wadi il-cAkib, is this ancient forti-
fied tell. There are no indications of separate buildings here ; an outer wall, irregular
in outline, encloses the hill, and another Avail encircles its summit; the walls were built
of boulders mixed with smaller stones. There are no hewn stones to be seen, nor any
sign that dressed blocks have been carried away to other places. A stronghold like
this was probably not intended for regular habitation, but for a place of retreat in
times of war, or perhaps even nightly in times of danger, when the flocks and herds
could be protected within the outer wall. Safaitic inscriptions found here may indicate
that this was the seat of an early Arab tribe, before the building of the oldest towns.
35. id-defyAneh.
There are upon this site only the ruins of an ancient village of medium size.
The place was occupied by the Moslems in the middle ages and was almost completely
rebuilt by them in a poor and crude manner. One of the ancient houses, which may
have belonged to the third or fourth century, was built of masonry of exceptionally
high finish, and its Avails were finished with a simple cornice consisting of a flat band
above a bevelled face. BeloAA^ the main arched room of the house was a cistern spanned
by three arches which carried the stone slabs of the floor of the main room. Another
house had a fine arched entrance upon the street. But both of these buildings Avere
so completely altered, and are so much ruined that it Avould be difficult to secure plans
of either of them. A small tower of the Moslem period, half in ruins, stands south-
east of the town, and an Arabic inscription Avas found in its ruins.
36. BEKKEH.
This site is near the northern limit of the region under discussion, and about half
way between Bosra and Salchad. It is an ancient site ιίοααγ inhabited by Druses. We
did not stop here, but, as we passed through the northeastern part of the village, we
noticed numerous sections of ancient Avails. These Avere of smooth quadrated work.
37. SOKHAR.
The proximity of Druse settlements to this site has been its destruction, and
rendered it of little architectural interest. It has been entirely destroyed for the sake
of its building stones. The site seems to have been a large town in ancient times;
it Avas probably one of the more important places of the neighbourhood. Fragments