DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45583#0026
234
Division II Section A Part 4
not to be traced among the later walls of more recent buildings; for the old and the
new have been alike covered with mud; but the long front wall shows a broad pilaster
at the angle, and, next to it, a wide doorway, higher than the others, with moulded
jambs and decorated lintel, carved frieze, deep cornice, and low relieving arch (Ill. 208).
Beyond this doorway is a row of doorways, almost equally spaced, with moulded jambs
and lintels, like the large doorway, but having, in place of the frieze, cornice and
relieving arch, an overlintel of two pieces and a key-stone, like a flat arch. Enough
of the upper storey of this wall is preserved to show that there was a large window
above each doorway, and brackets above the lintel line of the windows to receive the
ends of the cross beams of the roof of the colonnade. The columns with their enta-
blature rose to the level of the ceiling of the upper storey so that the doorways of
the lower storey and the windows of the upper storey were alike protected by the roof
over the side-walk. It is probable that the wall was somewhat higher than the cornice
of the colonnade to receive the slanting rafters of the colonnade, and I have shown
in Ill. 207 a parapet at the top of the walls, which would be required to weight the
stone slabs of the roof of the shops themselves; for it is most probable that both the
lower and the upper storeys of the shops were provided with stone ceilings carried on
girder arches according to the system usually practiced in Southern Syria.
Another colonnade which preserves both wall and columns intact is situated in a
part of the town more remote from the centre, northwest of the Djamic il-Khidr. Here
all the details are in a more perfect state of preservation; but the building is less
monumental and on a slightly smaller scale (Ill. 209). Several columns are standing,
two having an architrave above them. The pavement of the street and of the side-walk
is visible at a number of points, and the building behind the colonnade preserves
not only its front wall, but its rear and partition walls, as I have shown on the plan
(Ill. 206). The upper storey however has been partly rebuilt in comparatively recent
times, and a wall of crude workmanship has been erected between some of the columns
extending up to their full height, so that the photograph given herewith (Ill. 209) is
far less illuminating than it might be. It shows, at the extreme right, a column
standing to about two thirds of its original height; then two columns carrying an
architrave, and, beyond this, the late wall referred to above which, having been built
in the line of the colonnade, conceals the rest of the standing columns which have
been incorporated with it. The middle of the picture shows two storeys of a partition
wall, the lower having a large arch in it, the upper a doorway that has been filled
up with stones. At the extreme left is the rear wall of the house. The plan, already
given in Ill. 206, shows the same general arrangement as that of the colonnade of the
shops (Ill. 207): but illustrates more fully the form and size of the chambers which
open upon the colonnade. Some of the chambers are connected with each other by
means of arches, many of them have windows, as well as doorways, in the lower
storey, and the fronts, though built of highly finished stone work, are without ornament.
These buildings appear to have been residences, and, if this be true, it is interesting
to find that certain residential streets in Bosra were provided with colonnades as well
as the streets which were of a more public character.
The architectural details of the colonnades are to be studied in many parts of the
city where the columns have fallen; but at only two or three points where they are
still in place. The order is uniformly the Ionic in Roman form with unfluted shafts
Division II Section A Part 4
not to be traced among the later walls of more recent buildings; for the old and the
new have been alike covered with mud; but the long front wall shows a broad pilaster
at the angle, and, next to it, a wide doorway, higher than the others, with moulded
jambs and decorated lintel, carved frieze, deep cornice, and low relieving arch (Ill. 208).
Beyond this doorway is a row of doorways, almost equally spaced, with moulded jambs
and lintels, like the large doorway, but having, in place of the frieze, cornice and
relieving arch, an overlintel of two pieces and a key-stone, like a flat arch. Enough
of the upper storey of this wall is preserved to show that there was a large window
above each doorway, and brackets above the lintel line of the windows to receive the
ends of the cross beams of the roof of the colonnade. The columns with their enta-
blature rose to the level of the ceiling of the upper storey so that the doorways of
the lower storey and the windows of the upper storey were alike protected by the roof
over the side-walk. It is probable that the wall was somewhat higher than the cornice
of the colonnade to receive the slanting rafters of the colonnade, and I have shown
in Ill. 207 a parapet at the top of the walls, which would be required to weight the
stone slabs of the roof of the shops themselves; for it is most probable that both the
lower and the upper storeys of the shops were provided with stone ceilings carried on
girder arches according to the system usually practiced in Southern Syria.
Another colonnade which preserves both wall and columns intact is situated in a
part of the town more remote from the centre, northwest of the Djamic il-Khidr. Here
all the details are in a more perfect state of preservation; but the building is less
monumental and on a slightly smaller scale (Ill. 209). Several columns are standing,
two having an architrave above them. The pavement of the street and of the side-walk
is visible at a number of points, and the building behind the colonnade preserves
not only its front wall, but its rear and partition walls, as I have shown on the plan
(Ill. 206). The upper storey however has been partly rebuilt in comparatively recent
times, and a wall of crude workmanship has been erected between some of the columns
extending up to their full height, so that the photograph given herewith (Ill. 209) is
far less illuminating than it might be. It shows, at the extreme right, a column
standing to about two thirds of its original height; then two columns carrying an
architrave, and, beyond this, the late wall referred to above which, having been built
in the line of the colonnade, conceals the rest of the standing columns which have
been incorporated with it. The middle of the picture shows two storeys of a partition
wall, the lower having a large arch in it, the upper a doorway that has been filled
up with stones. At the extreme left is the rear wall of the house. The plan, already
given in Ill. 206, shows the same general arrangement as that of the colonnade of the
shops (Ill. 207): but illustrates more fully the form and size of the chambers which
open upon the colonnade. Some of the chambers are connected with each other by
means of arches, many of them have windows, as well as doorways, in the lower
storey, and the fronts, though built of highly finished stone work, are without ornament.
These buildings appear to have been residences, and, if this be true, it is interesting
to find that certain residential streets in Bosra were provided with colonnades as well
as the streets which were of a more public character.
The architectural details of the colonnades are to be studied in many parts of the
city where the columns have fallen; but at only two or three points where they are
still in place. The order is uniformly the Ionic in Roman form with unfluted shafts