DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0078
120
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
Domestic Architecture : The houses of is-Safiyeh present many different plans,
and at least three centuries of building. Almost all of them are of the better class
from the point of view of construction. There are residences here of the same general
plan and arrangement as those at Sameh (Ill. 66), which have a large arched room
in one story, with adjoining oblong rooms in two stories; and others similar to the
block of houses in Medjdel (Ill. 96), described above; a repetition of these plans would
be quite superfluous here. But the type of house with a high tower attached to it is
more distinctive and more characteristic of the immediate neighbourhood. These towers
are a feature of the domestic architecture of the eastern and southeastern slopes of
the Djebel Hauran, and were probably watch-towers, like those of the eastern slope
of the Djebel Riha and Djebel Barisha in Northern Syria, where the towers are detached.
We have already seen towers of this kind at Sabhah (Ill. 93), in the South, and they
Ill. 100.
I5-5AFIYE.H·
H0V3E·
are features of the ruins of BuiAk, Tnat,
Sammeh, Umm il-KuttAn and other sites
to the southeast. Some of the towers
of is-Safiyeh may be seen in the photo-
graph (Ill. 97). The house with a tower
that I have chosen as an example (Ill. 100)
is a well built structure in smooth qua-
drated masonry. It comprises a large,
arched room, in one story, with a long
arched room at the rear and one on
the north side, both in two stories. The
main room is of irregular shape; the
rear apartment was a stable with mangers
in the dividing wall. On the south are
two square rooms, the smaller two stories
high; the other, which forms the south-
east angle of the house, is the base of
a tower of four stories. The upper stories
of the tower are of highly finished stone
work with two projecting string courses,
each a cyma recta in profile. The inter-
mediate floors were of wood; the third
story had a doorway opening out upon the roof of the house. The roof of the tower
was provided with a parapet which gives it the appearance of having been a watch-
tower. It is the custom today, in the Druse villages of the Hauran, to keep a watch-
man constantly upon the roof of one of the taller houses. The watch-man communicates
signals and warnings to the villagers, and to herdsmen, shepherds, and plowmen who
are employed at a distance from the village. Various commands are undoubtedly given
at a distance in this way; but it is probable that the most important function of the
watch-man is to give warning of the approach of suspicious looking horsemen. The
cry “ khcciyale, khaiyale*·. horsemen! horsemen! is always sounded in a village, or in an en-
campment, with a note of fear; for the villages have constant feuds between them, and
unfriendly raids of neighbours or of wandering bands of Arabs are a continual source
of dread. We may not know if interurban feuds are as old as the ancient towns of
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
Domestic Architecture : The houses of is-Safiyeh present many different plans,
and at least three centuries of building. Almost all of them are of the better class
from the point of view of construction. There are residences here of the same general
plan and arrangement as those at Sameh (Ill. 66), which have a large arched room
in one story, with adjoining oblong rooms in two stories; and others similar to the
block of houses in Medjdel (Ill. 96), described above; a repetition of these plans would
be quite superfluous here. But the type of house with a high tower attached to it is
more distinctive and more characteristic of the immediate neighbourhood. These towers
are a feature of the domestic architecture of the eastern and southeastern slopes of
the Djebel Hauran, and were probably watch-towers, like those of the eastern slope
of the Djebel Riha and Djebel Barisha in Northern Syria, where the towers are detached.
We have already seen towers of this kind at Sabhah (Ill. 93), in the South, and they
Ill. 100.
I5-5AFIYE.H·
H0V3E·
are features of the ruins of BuiAk, Tnat,
Sammeh, Umm il-KuttAn and other sites
to the southeast. Some of the towers
of is-Safiyeh may be seen in the photo-
graph (Ill. 97). The house with a tower
that I have chosen as an example (Ill. 100)
is a well built structure in smooth qua-
drated masonry. It comprises a large,
arched room, in one story, with a long
arched room at the rear and one on
the north side, both in two stories. The
main room is of irregular shape; the
rear apartment was a stable with mangers
in the dividing wall. On the south are
two square rooms, the smaller two stories
high; the other, which forms the south-
east angle of the house, is the base of
a tower of four stories. The upper stories
of the tower are of highly finished stone
work with two projecting string courses,
each a cyma recta in profile. The inter-
mediate floors were of wood; the third
story had a doorway opening out upon the roof of the house. The roof of the tower
was provided with a parapet which gives it the appearance of having been a watch-
tower. It is the custom today, in the Druse villages of the Hauran, to keep a watch-
man constantly upon the roof of one of the taller houses. The watch-man communicates
signals and warnings to the villagers, and to herdsmen, shepherds, and plowmen who
are employed at a distance from the village. Various commands are undoubtedly given
at a distance in this way; but it is probable that the most important function of the
watch-man is to give warning of the approach of suspicious looking horsemen. The
cry “ khcciyale, khaiyale*·. horsemen! horsemen! is always sounded in a village, or in an en-
campment, with a note of fear; for the villages have constant feuds between them, and
unfriendly raids of neighbours or of wandering bands of Arabs are a continual source
of dread. We may not know if interurban feuds are as old as the ancient towns of