DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45583#0047
Bosra eski Sham (Bostra or Bosra}.
251
on this site, any or all of them might have belonged to a building of considerable size.
Bostra was a larger city than Gerasa, if we are to judge by its extent; although so
much more of the latter city is represented in ruins at the present day. Bostra is
known to have had various cults, especially important among which was the cult of
Dusares, the Nabataean Dushara; and one would naturally presume that there were
temples here that compared in scale with the two more important temples at Gerasa.
It is not impossible that the features above described belonged to such temples.
Nymphaeum. The ruins of this building (Ill. 224) and of the one directly to the
east of it (Ill. 225), with their standing columns, are among the most imposing of the
monuments of Bosra, and are certainly the subjects most frequently chosen for photo-
graphs by visitors to the ancient city. The four columns of the Nymphaeum, which
are beautiful in themselves, and are quite perfectly preserved, are practically all that
remains of the building of which they formed the fagade. They stand on a line diagonal
to the two main streets of the town which intersect at this point (see Plan in Ill. 226)
and were so placed as to cut off the sharp angle which would have been produced if
the colonnades of the two streets had met; for the streets do not meet at an exact
right angle; but at an angle rather more acute. The north colonnade of the east-and-
west street, and the west colonnade of the north-and-south street, terminated against
the two end columns of this facade. The central intercolumniation is wider than the
other two which are equal. This is all that can be seen from the streets of the modern
village; for whatever else remains of the building is hidden behind high walls, as may
be seen in the photograph (Ill. 224). Both Laborde1 and Rey3, who saw the building
many years ago, refer to an apsidal construction behind the columns; the former gives
approximate measurements of this construction in his text, the latter gives more exact
figures, and shows a plan on very small scale in his map of the city3. When Puchstein
was here he excavated to find this curved wall, and we found his excavation almost
completely filled up when we entered the enclosure behind the wall. I took measurements
of as much of the wall as I could find, which would be sufficient for our Plan of Bosra,
and from these I have drawn the accompanying plan (Ill. 226). Puchstein called the
building a Nymphaeum and I have followed him. The plan is sufficiently like that of
the Nymphaeum of Gerasa to make this identification practically certain. Knowing that
Puchstein had measured all the details of the columns, and had excavated to find the
bottom of one pedestal, I did not undertake the trouble and expense of erecting a
scaffolding about one of the columns, or of reopening his excavation which had filled
up. I trust that his results may soon be given to the world; for the details here are
of more than ordinary interest. I contented myself with measuring some of the details
of the base of one of the columns which were easily reached. For a restoration I have
assumed the height of the pedestals, and, knowing the diameter of a column (1.20 m.),
I have erected the four columns by finding their approximate height in diameters from
photographs. The capital was drawn from a sketch and from photographs. The pre-
sent level of the soil is shown by a broken line. The visible parts of the building
are shaded to represent basalt. The rear wall was restored from a similar plan in the
central portion of the Nymphaeum at "Amman, where the wall is standing. An apsis
must be covered by a half dome; at "Amman the half dome springs from the level
1 Voyage de la Syrie, p. 64.
3 Ibid. Pl. X.
2 Voyage dans le Haouran, p. 182.
251
on this site, any or all of them might have belonged to a building of considerable size.
Bostra was a larger city than Gerasa, if we are to judge by its extent; although so
much more of the latter city is represented in ruins at the present day. Bostra is
known to have had various cults, especially important among which was the cult of
Dusares, the Nabataean Dushara; and one would naturally presume that there were
temples here that compared in scale with the two more important temples at Gerasa.
It is not impossible that the features above described belonged to such temples.
Nymphaeum. The ruins of this building (Ill. 224) and of the one directly to the
east of it (Ill. 225), with their standing columns, are among the most imposing of the
monuments of Bosra, and are certainly the subjects most frequently chosen for photo-
graphs by visitors to the ancient city. The four columns of the Nymphaeum, which
are beautiful in themselves, and are quite perfectly preserved, are practically all that
remains of the building of which they formed the fagade. They stand on a line diagonal
to the two main streets of the town which intersect at this point (see Plan in Ill. 226)
and were so placed as to cut off the sharp angle which would have been produced if
the colonnades of the two streets had met; for the streets do not meet at an exact
right angle; but at an angle rather more acute. The north colonnade of the east-and-
west street, and the west colonnade of the north-and-south street, terminated against
the two end columns of this facade. The central intercolumniation is wider than the
other two which are equal. This is all that can be seen from the streets of the modern
village; for whatever else remains of the building is hidden behind high walls, as may
be seen in the photograph (Ill. 224). Both Laborde1 and Rey3, who saw the building
many years ago, refer to an apsidal construction behind the columns; the former gives
approximate measurements of this construction in his text, the latter gives more exact
figures, and shows a plan on very small scale in his map of the city3. When Puchstein
was here he excavated to find this curved wall, and we found his excavation almost
completely filled up when we entered the enclosure behind the wall. I took measurements
of as much of the wall as I could find, which would be sufficient for our Plan of Bosra,
and from these I have drawn the accompanying plan (Ill. 226). Puchstein called the
building a Nymphaeum and I have followed him. The plan is sufficiently like that of
the Nymphaeum of Gerasa to make this identification practically certain. Knowing that
Puchstein had measured all the details of the columns, and had excavated to find the
bottom of one pedestal, I did not undertake the trouble and expense of erecting a
scaffolding about one of the columns, or of reopening his excavation which had filled
up. I trust that his results may soon be given to the world; for the details here are
of more than ordinary interest. I contented myself with measuring some of the details
of the base of one of the columns which were easily reached. For a restoration I have
assumed the height of the pedestals, and, knowing the diameter of a column (1.20 m.),
I have erected the four columns by finding their approximate height in diameters from
photographs. The capital was drawn from a sketch and from photographs. The pre-
sent level of the soil is shown by a broken line. The visible parts of the building
are shaded to represent basalt. The rear wall was restored from a similar plan in the
central portion of the Nymphaeum at "Amman, where the wall is standing. An apsis
must be covered by a half dome; at "Amman the half dome springs from the level
1 Voyage de la Syrie, p. 64.
3 Ibid. Pl. X.
2 Voyage dans le Haouran, p. 182.