DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0070
118
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
great interest to those in search of ancient buildings, and many of its inscriptions, in
Nabataean and in Greek, are of less importance to the epigraphist than those of many
another site, because it is quite impossible to discover whether they belonged to Salcha,
or have been brought here -by the Druse collectors of inscribed stones; for it seems
that stones with writing upon them have a peculiar value to these people, and house
after house will be found to have inscriptions, often broken or turned up side down,
inserted in their walls. The Druses often tell one that they have brought these in-
scriptions from outlying ruins; but they can hardly be expected to recall the ruin from
which any particular stone was carried. The old city was completely destroyed for the
building of the great castle and the mosque. If any ancient buildings survived this
building period, they have perished in the construction of the new Druse town and
the Turkish barracks. The castle and the mosque were both entirely built of ancient
Ill. 94. Salkhad, from the Southeast.
materials and the walls of both contain many inscriptions and fragments of architectural
details. It is interesting to find that there are more fragments of Nabataean architecture
than of the classic architecture of the Roman period. The most important fragments
are two capitals, precisely like those 1 in the porch of the temple of Ba'al Shamin at
Sf, which lie just within the entrance to the castle. Two capitals, like the inscribed
Nabataean capital at Sahwit il-Khidr 2, and fragments of the jambs and lintels of door-
ways, carved in the Nabataean style, were found in the castle and in the walls of a
house about half way up the east slope of the hill on which the castle stands. It
would seem that Roman architecture had not flourished here as extensively as the
older style; its chief remains are drums of columns, and a few capitals, in the Ionic
style, that appear to have belonged to a colonnaded street in the lower section of the
1 s.c. Pl. 3.
2 cf. Sect. A., Part 5, under Sahwit il-Khidr.
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
great interest to those in search of ancient buildings, and many of its inscriptions, in
Nabataean and in Greek, are of less importance to the epigraphist than those of many
another site, because it is quite impossible to discover whether they belonged to Salcha,
or have been brought here -by the Druse collectors of inscribed stones; for it seems
that stones with writing upon them have a peculiar value to these people, and house
after house will be found to have inscriptions, often broken or turned up side down,
inserted in their walls. The Druses often tell one that they have brought these in-
scriptions from outlying ruins; but they can hardly be expected to recall the ruin from
which any particular stone was carried. The old city was completely destroyed for the
building of the great castle and the mosque. If any ancient buildings survived this
building period, they have perished in the construction of the new Druse town and
the Turkish barracks. The castle and the mosque were both entirely built of ancient
Ill. 94. Salkhad, from the Southeast.
materials and the walls of both contain many inscriptions and fragments of architectural
details. It is interesting to find that there are more fragments of Nabataean architecture
than of the classic architecture of the Roman period. The most important fragments
are two capitals, precisely like those 1 in the porch of the temple of Ba'al Shamin at
Sf, which lie just within the entrance to the castle. Two capitals, like the inscribed
Nabataean capital at Sahwit il-Khidr 2, and fragments of the jambs and lintels of door-
ways, carved in the Nabataean style, were found in the castle and in the walls of a
house about half way up the east slope of the hill on which the castle stands. It
would seem that Roman architecture had not flourished here as extensively as the
older style; its chief remains are drums of columns, and a few capitals, in the Ionic
style, that appear to have belonged to a colonnaded street in the lower section of the
1 s.c. Pl. 3.
2 cf. Sect. A., Part 5, under Sahwit il-Khidr.