DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45581#0088
134
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
short cylindrical supports carried on square corbels·, which probably shows that it ·
extended around a porch of two columns that was roofed with slabs. There arc ^ters
carved in the wreaths that decorate the lintel of the portal, but the inscriptions have
been mutilated and are hardly legible.
53. SAMMEH.
The ruins of this ancient town are among the most interesting of the smaller sites
of the Southern Hauran. The place is inhabited in seed-time and harvest; but few of
the buildings have suffered other depredations than those of time and weather. Inscrip-
tions found here witness to the antiquity of the site; one in Nabataean script records
the building of some edifice, under King Malchos, in the first century; others, in Greek,
show that the town flourished in the second and third centuries of our era; while
Christian buildings in good style prove that it was a place of importance in the fourth
and fifth centuries. The most remarkable structure here, one of the most interesting,
in some respects, in all the Hauran, is a square building (Ill. 111) with two transverse
WWH·
‘ CHVRCH·
Ill. III.
arches and a semi-circular apse protruding toward the east, which was probably a church.
The outer walls and the walls of the apse have been removed down to the level of
the spring of the arches, and the parts which remain are almost buried; but the two
transverse arches are still in place; these are set about 3 metres apart, and the same
distance from the east and west walls. The piers are salient, having a projection of
2 m. or more. The arches are not semi-circular; but are arcs of circles struck from
centres 1.50 m. below the level of the impost; the span is about 10 m. wide. No
less than 35 voussoirs, diminishing in width towards the crown of the arch, were used
in the construction of each arch. The voussoirs are composed alternately of single
stones and two stones showing; a vertical joint in the soffit. Each voussoir is joined
to the one next it by a double elbow joint, or joggle, as may be seen in the drawing
(Ill. hi), and in the photograph (Ill. 112). The voussoirs at the haunch of the arches
extend far back into the spandril, turning to a horizontal position at the line of extrados,
and fitting into the horizontal coursing, in some cases, with mortise-and-tenon joints.
It will be observed that the stone-work of two of the spandrils has entirely disappeared,
with the exception of these lateral extensions of the voussoirs, which are thus suspended
in air from one end. There is no abutment to either arch at this point, and the weight
II. A. 2. — Southern Hauran
short cylindrical supports carried on square corbels·, which probably shows that it ·
extended around a porch of two columns that was roofed with slabs. There arc ^ters
carved in the wreaths that decorate the lintel of the portal, but the inscriptions have
been mutilated and are hardly legible.
53. SAMMEH.
The ruins of this ancient town are among the most interesting of the smaller sites
of the Southern Hauran. The place is inhabited in seed-time and harvest; but few of
the buildings have suffered other depredations than those of time and weather. Inscrip-
tions found here witness to the antiquity of the site; one in Nabataean script records
the building of some edifice, under King Malchos, in the first century; others, in Greek,
show that the town flourished in the second and third centuries of our era; while
Christian buildings in good style prove that it was a place of importance in the fourth
and fifth centuries. The most remarkable structure here, one of the most interesting,
in some respects, in all the Hauran, is a square building (Ill. 111) with two transverse
WWH·
‘ CHVRCH·
Ill. III.
arches and a semi-circular apse protruding toward the east, which was probably a church.
The outer walls and the walls of the apse have been removed down to the level of
the spring of the arches, and the parts which remain are almost buried; but the two
transverse arches are still in place; these are set about 3 metres apart, and the same
distance from the east and west walls. The piers are salient, having a projection of
2 m. or more. The arches are not semi-circular; but are arcs of circles struck from
centres 1.50 m. below the level of the impost; the span is about 10 m. wide. No
less than 35 voussoirs, diminishing in width towards the crown of the arch, were used
in the construction of each arch. The voussoirs are composed alternately of single
stones and two stones showing; a vertical joint in the soffit. Each voussoir is joined
to the one next it by a double elbow joint, or joggle, as may be seen in the drawing
(Ill. hi), and in the photograph (Ill. 112). The voussoirs at the haunch of the arches
extend far back into the spandril, turning to a horizontal position at the line of extrados,
and fitting into the horizontal coursing, in some cases, with mortise-and-tenon joints.
It will be observed that the stone-work of two of the spandrils has entirely disappeared,
with the exception of these lateral extensions of the voussoirs, which are thus suspended
in air from one end. There is no abutment to either arch at this point, and the weight