DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0075
is-Safiyeh
123
vidually or in common. Each residence has about the same width as a modern city
house, is a little less deep, and has two stories in front and three in the rear, pro-
viding five or seven rooms, according as the spaces are divided up. The entire block
appears to have been built at one time, and may have been erected by one man who
lived in one of the residences and rented, or sold, the others. Each of the residences
is almost as large as the single house described above·, but the plans differ slightly
from that plan, and from each other. The plan of the houses in the north end of the
block (Ill. 96) shows the upper arched story : the lower story of these houses consists
of a large low room, spanned by a row of three low arches, and a stable in the
rear, as may be seen in Sections A-B and C-D. The upper story consists of a large
high-arched room, the triklinos we may call it, with long apartments in two stories at
the rear above the stable. The upper story was reached by a flight of steps corbelled
out from the rear wall of the main room. Both floors above the stable are well lighted
and have cupboards; they were probably sleeping rooms. The easternmost of these
three houses is the most spacious of the three·, for it has a narrow dependency, two
stories high, opening out from it along the east side of the court. The triklinos is
reached only by a flight of steps that ascend to the upper story of the dependency,
and is then carried beyond, and up to a landing before the doorway of the triklinos
(Ill. 96, Sect. C—D). The buildings across the court are a double stable and a group
of five square compartments, three of which, along the west wall of the block, are two
stories high, the others only one story high. One of the latter contains a curious con-
struction, much ruined, which I took to be an ancient oven, and which I conjectured
to have been the common baking place for the three residences. The three residences
in the south end of the block, one of which is in complete ruins, differ from the others
in having the large arched room in one story only, and the third story, in the rear,
extending up above the roof of the arched room, as the fourth story does in the single
house described above. All of these houses were well built, and are remarkably pre-
served. All the broad arches, excepting one, are standing, though the lower arches
of the ground story have collapsed. The stone doors of the street entrances are still
in place. The side walk along the west side of the block is perfectly preserved.
43. is-sAfiyeh.
On the west bank of the Wadi Radjil, upon a low knoll, stands a massive tower-
like structure in two stages, surrounded by ruined buildings, which extend down the
slope to the edge of the wadi (Ill. 97). This deserted ruined town is called is-S&fiyeh
by the natives, or Safiyet-Melah, because the ruin is not far from the Druse village of
Melah, and “belongs” to that village, as the Druses say of any ruin which a village
has the peculiar right to plunder for building material.
Is-Safiyeh is apparently one of the most ancient sites in the Hauran, and was
occupied for many centuries; for there are many periods of building represented here.
The stepped pyramid, or tower of two stages, is undoubtedly a monument of great
antiquity. South and east of it there are extensive ruins of houses upon a platform
supported on two sides by a retaining wall of huge blocks of stone; the houses and
the wall were all built of unhewn stones of large size, and appear to be older even
than the Nabataean houses and tombs at Sf.
123
vidually or in common. Each residence has about the same width as a modern city
house, is a little less deep, and has two stories in front and three in the rear, pro-
viding five or seven rooms, according as the spaces are divided up. The entire block
appears to have been built at one time, and may have been erected by one man who
lived in one of the residences and rented, or sold, the others. Each of the residences
is almost as large as the single house described above·, but the plans differ slightly
from that plan, and from each other. The plan of the houses in the north end of the
block (Ill. 96) shows the upper arched story : the lower story of these houses consists
of a large low room, spanned by a row of three low arches, and a stable in the
rear, as may be seen in Sections A-B and C-D. The upper story consists of a large
high-arched room, the triklinos we may call it, with long apartments in two stories at
the rear above the stable. The upper story was reached by a flight of steps corbelled
out from the rear wall of the main room. Both floors above the stable are well lighted
and have cupboards; they were probably sleeping rooms. The easternmost of these
three houses is the most spacious of the three·, for it has a narrow dependency, two
stories high, opening out from it along the east side of the court. The triklinos is
reached only by a flight of steps that ascend to the upper story of the dependency,
and is then carried beyond, and up to a landing before the doorway of the triklinos
(Ill. 96, Sect. C—D). The buildings across the court are a double stable and a group
of five square compartments, three of which, along the west wall of the block, are two
stories high, the others only one story high. One of the latter contains a curious con-
struction, much ruined, which I took to be an ancient oven, and which I conjectured
to have been the common baking place for the three residences. The three residences
in the south end of the block, one of which is in complete ruins, differ from the others
in having the large arched room in one story only, and the third story, in the rear,
extending up above the roof of the arched room, as the fourth story does in the single
house described above. All of these houses were well built, and are remarkably pre-
served. All the broad arches, excepting one, are standing, though the lower arches
of the ground story have collapsed. The stone doors of the street entrances are still
in place. The side walk along the west side of the block is perfectly preserved.
43. is-sAfiyeh.
On the west bank of the Wadi Radjil, upon a low knoll, stands a massive tower-
like structure in two stages, surrounded by ruined buildings, which extend down the
slope to the edge of the wadi (Ill. 97). This deserted ruined town is called is-S&fiyeh
by the natives, or Safiyet-Melah, because the ruin is not far from the Druse village of
Melah, and “belongs” to that village, as the Druses say of any ruin which a village
has the peculiar right to plunder for building material.
Is-Safiyeh is apparently one of the most ancient sites in the Hauran, and was
occupied for many centuries; for there are many periods of building represented here.
The stepped pyramid, or tower of two stages, is undoubtedly a monument of great
antiquity. South and east of it there are extensive ruins of houses upon a platform
supported on two sides by a retaining wall of huge blocks of stone; the houses and
the wall were all built of unhewn stones of large size, and appear to be older even
than the Nabataean houses and tombs at Sf.