DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0069
Salkhad, (Salcha)
117
of Nabataean grape-vine ornament attest the antiquity of the ruins, and bits of mouldings,
of rather late profiles, show that the town flourished in later Roman times. I found
no remains that could be identified with the ruins of a church; but there are other
indications of Christian occupation here.
38. ir-rAfkah.
Like Sokhar, this ancient town has been almost totally destroyed by the stone
masons of neighbouring Druse villages. The place was of medium size; it was built
chiefly of rough quadrated masonry. Only a single house preserves any considerable
portion of its original structure, and, even from this, the lintel stones have all been
removed.
39. TELL CABD MAR.
On the top of a high, somewhat isolated, hill south of Salchad is a small group
of ancient buildings the largest of which is the Druse shrine of "Abd Mar. This
building appears to have been a poorly constructed church. It is oriented, it had no
side aisles, and its nave is spanned by three transverse arches. The east end has
been rebuilt; but the roof is original. Adjoining this building are several crudely con-
structed structures, long and narrow, only one of them being arched over. At the
northern extremity of the summit of the hill is a small house entered from the north
through a small doorway with a stone door. An interior girder-arch is still standing
and supports a roof of stone slabs. One of the buildings on this site unquestionably
covers the foundations of a temple of the Roman, or the Nabataean, period; for there
are many highly finished quadrated blocks that have been built into the walls of these
later structures, and a few fragments of mouldings of good profile, and of grape-vine
ornament well executed that are to be seen lying among the ruins. This sightly spot
must have been a sacred high-place very early in its day, and was the site of a temple
as early perhaps as the first century B.C.; the remains show that it was built upon in
Roman times, probably in the second century after Christ. In Christian times the temple
was torn down and a small monastery was set up in its place. A modest convent
it must have been, and poorly built; it was perhaps only the retreat of hermits. But
the elevated position attracted the attention of the Druses, when they took possession
of this part of the Haurfin, not many years ago, and they have made of it a sacred
place of their own.
40. SALKHAD, {SALCHA).
The site of ancient Salcha is one of the most conspicuous and imposing of all the
places in the Hauran. Its mighty castle, set on the top of a high steep cone detached
from the southern spurs of the Djebel Hauran, looms high above the neighbouring foot
hills, and is a familiar landmark in every quarter of the region. It is unusual to find
a spot of any eminence in the Southern Hauran from which the castle is not to be
seen, and one becomes accustomed to locating one’s self with reference to that ever
visible truncated cone with its mural crown (Ill. 94). But the place itself is not of very
117
of Nabataean grape-vine ornament attest the antiquity of the ruins, and bits of mouldings,
of rather late profiles, show that the town flourished in later Roman times. I found
no remains that could be identified with the ruins of a church; but there are other
indications of Christian occupation here.
38. ir-rAfkah.
Like Sokhar, this ancient town has been almost totally destroyed by the stone
masons of neighbouring Druse villages. The place was of medium size; it was built
chiefly of rough quadrated masonry. Only a single house preserves any considerable
portion of its original structure, and, even from this, the lintel stones have all been
removed.
39. TELL CABD MAR.
On the top of a high, somewhat isolated, hill south of Salchad is a small group
of ancient buildings the largest of which is the Druse shrine of "Abd Mar. This
building appears to have been a poorly constructed church. It is oriented, it had no
side aisles, and its nave is spanned by three transverse arches. The east end has
been rebuilt; but the roof is original. Adjoining this building are several crudely con-
structed structures, long and narrow, only one of them being arched over. At the
northern extremity of the summit of the hill is a small house entered from the north
through a small doorway with a stone door. An interior girder-arch is still standing
and supports a roof of stone slabs. One of the buildings on this site unquestionably
covers the foundations of a temple of the Roman, or the Nabataean, period; for there
are many highly finished quadrated blocks that have been built into the walls of these
later structures, and a few fragments of mouldings of good profile, and of grape-vine
ornament well executed that are to be seen lying among the ruins. This sightly spot
must have been a sacred high-place very early in its day, and was the site of a temple
as early perhaps as the first century B.C.; the remains show that it was built upon in
Roman times, probably in the second century after Christ. In Christian times the temple
was torn down and a small monastery was set up in its place. A modest convent
it must have been, and poorly built; it was perhaps only the retreat of hermits. But
the elevated position attracted the attention of the Druses, when they took possession
of this part of the Haurfin, not many years ago, and they have made of it a sacred
place of their own.
40. SALKHAD, {SALCHA).
The site of ancient Salcha is one of the most conspicuous and imposing of all the
places in the Hauran. Its mighty castle, set on the top of a high steep cone detached
from the southern spurs of the Djebel Hauran, looms high above the neighbouring foot
hills, and is a familiar landmark in every quarter of the region. It is unusual to find
a spot of any eminence in the Southern Hauran from which the castle is not to be
seen, and one becomes accustomed to locating one’s self with reference to that ever
visible truncated cone with its mural crown (Ill. 94). But the place itself is not of very