DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0085
Kier
been coveted for centuries by builders to whom fine stone cutting has become a lost art.
The Druses moreover, as I have said elsewhere, seem to attach importance to inscribed
stones beyond the fact that the best quality of stone was chosen by the ancients for
carving their inscriptions. Thus it has been that the inscriptions of a Pagan shrine
were scattered among a number of later inhabited sites.
One of the most important inscriptions 1 at cAnz is that
which records the reinstitution of the sacrifices and the
restoration and consecration of a temple by Julian the
Apostate in the year 362 of our era. This inscription
is known to have been brought to cAnz ·, the natives
said it had come from Kfer. It is probable that
it had deen carried from D£r il-Meshkfik to Kfer some
centuries before, or the natives may have forgotten and
have said they found it at Kfer when really they brought it
from its original position. There are no visible remains
of a temple in cAnz itself nor in any of the surrounding
ruins, and I am quite confident that this inscription, pu¬
blished by MM. Dussaud and Macler, gives us a chapter
in the later history of our temple. Besides two altars
at Kfer, one of which is illustrated below (Ill. 108),
an inscription was found containing the word theatron.
This recalls the Nabataean theatron in Sf, and I believe
. . . . . Illi . . . .... Ill. 107. Der il-Meshkuk; Statue,
it highly probable that this inscription came originally
from Der il-Meshkfik, and describes a dependency of the temple here. The accom-
panying photograph (Ill. 107) is that of a male torso, 77 cm. high, found north of
the temple at Der il-Meshkuk. It is not without merit as a statue in basalt.
49. KFER.
108) is tall and well proportioned. It is 1.12 m.
is 37 cm. wide. One side of the die bears
another is adorned with a bust in high relief;
high, that has been broken away; the fourth
A ®
A 51 DE
i
Ill. 108.
it-Tehfileh, cAuwas, and other deserted ancient towns in
The greater
part of the town was crudely built. There is a large, partty
natural, birkeh near the southeast angle of the ruins. The
sole archaeological interest of the place is to be found in the
Pagan altars and early inscriptions that were built into the
walls of the houses, and which, in all probability, came ori-
ginally from Der il-Meshkfik where they had adorned the temple
and its enclosure; for there are absolutely no traces of a
temple structure at Kfer, and the ruined temple is not more
than a quarter of an hour distant. There are two altars;
both have inscriptions2; the one that I have chosen for re-
production (Ill.
high; its base
the inscription,
the third bore a figure in relief, 32 cm.
A ruin to be classed with
this region that have been recently demolished by Druse stone masons.
KFE.R·
ALTAB·
1 M.S.M. p. 276, 108; Div. Ill, insc. 186.
2 Div. Ill, inscs. 178, 179.
been coveted for centuries by builders to whom fine stone cutting has become a lost art.
The Druses moreover, as I have said elsewhere, seem to attach importance to inscribed
stones beyond the fact that the best quality of stone was chosen by the ancients for
carving their inscriptions. Thus it has been that the inscriptions of a Pagan shrine
were scattered among a number of later inhabited sites.
One of the most important inscriptions 1 at cAnz is that
which records the reinstitution of the sacrifices and the
restoration and consecration of a temple by Julian the
Apostate in the year 362 of our era. This inscription
is known to have been brought to cAnz ·, the natives
said it had come from Kfer. It is probable that
it had deen carried from D£r il-Meshkfik to Kfer some
centuries before, or the natives may have forgotten and
have said they found it at Kfer when really they brought it
from its original position. There are no visible remains
of a temple in cAnz itself nor in any of the surrounding
ruins, and I am quite confident that this inscription, pu¬
blished by MM. Dussaud and Macler, gives us a chapter
in the later history of our temple. Besides two altars
at Kfer, one of which is illustrated below (Ill. 108),
an inscription was found containing the word theatron.
This recalls the Nabataean theatron in Sf, and I believe
. . . . . Illi . . . .... Ill. 107. Der il-Meshkuk; Statue,
it highly probable that this inscription came originally
from Der il-Meshkfik, and describes a dependency of the temple here. The accom-
panying photograph (Ill. 107) is that of a male torso, 77 cm. high, found north of
the temple at Der il-Meshkuk. It is not without merit as a statue in basalt.
49. KFER.
108) is tall and well proportioned. It is 1.12 m.
is 37 cm. wide. One side of the die bears
another is adorned with a bust in high relief;
high, that has been broken away; the fourth
A ®
A 51 DE
i
Ill. 108.
it-Tehfileh, cAuwas, and other deserted ancient towns in
The greater
part of the town was crudely built. There is a large, partty
natural, birkeh near the southeast angle of the ruins. The
sole archaeological interest of the place is to be found in the
Pagan altars and early inscriptions that were built into the
walls of the houses, and which, in all probability, came ori-
ginally from Der il-Meshkfik where they had adorned the temple
and its enclosure; for there are absolutely no traces of a
temple structure at Kfer, and the ruined temple is not more
than a quarter of an hour distant. There are two altars;
both have inscriptions2; the one that I have chosen for re-
production (Ill.
high; its base
the inscription,
the third bore a figure in relief, 32 cm.
A ruin to be classed with
this region that have been recently demolished by Druse stone masons.
KFE.R·
ALTAB·
1 M.S.M. p. 276, 108; Div. Ill, insc. 186.
2 Div. Ill, inscs. 178, 179.