DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45583#0052
Bosra eski Sham {Bostra or Bosra)
255
a bead-and-reel below, an ovolo carved with widely spaced egg-and-dart
The pulvinated frieze is adorned with a deeply
flowing rinceau of acanthus. The bed mouldings which are carved upon a
course of stone, consist of an egg-and-dart, a dentil band, and a narrow cyma
The modillions of the cornice are low, but project well to carry an over-
corona ornamented with vertical grooves and a sima carved with anthemions
It will be noticed in the photograph that the frieze was pierced
height of the order. . The side wall adjoining the anta has three, and probably had
four, storeys of niches (Ill. 225). The pilaster of the anta extends to the full height
of this wall; but the column was elevated upon a pedestal; still the height of the anta
was such that the shaft of the column was made more than 13 diameters high, and
gave the whole column a height of about 16 diameters which is of course absurd. But
the ornamental details of this order do not deserve the reputation they have been
given as examples of bad taste. The bases are of white marble and have a delicate
profile. The capital of the column and the cap of the pilaster were well designed and
beautifully wrought in the free and open manner which characterizes the capitals of the
Nymphaeum. The entablature is rather over-elaborately decorated, in the style of the
later Antonines, and the proportions are not perfect; but the work was executed with
rare skill in the hardest of materials. The three bands of the architrave are separated
by bead-and-reel mouldings, and this member is finished off with a richly carved cymatium
having·
in the middle, and a cavetto above.
cut and
separate
reversa.
hanging
and acanthus leaves.
perpendicularly with a large hole which was probably also cut through the cornice and
the architrave. It was perhaps intended to carry a mast of wood like those with which
the cornice of the Coliseum in Rome was provided.
Civic Buildings.
Under this title we may group the Palace, the Public Baths, the Basilica, the
Market, the Theatre, the Hippodrome, the Naumachia, and the remains of one or
two buildings of unknown purpose. A Greek theatre might be classified as a religious
building; but in Roman times the theatre became more and more of a civic, and perhaps
less of a religious building. Among the edifices enumerated above, the Theatre is the
only one that has received more than passing mention, and many have not been noticed
at all by the numerous explorers and travellers who have visited Bosra. From the
point of view of the history of architecture, some of these buildings are more important
than those which have been the object of more thorough examination ; for they represent
classes of structures which are less commonly found among the ruins of ancient cities.
The Palace. This ruined building is situated to the south of the East Arch, and,
although it is one of the most interesting edifices in Bosra, it has been barely mentioned
by three or four of the travellers who have written descriptions of the ancient city.
This is probably due to the fact that it is almost completely hidden by the modern
dwellings that are crowded around and within it. It is plainly visible from only one
side, the east, which is the side least likely to be approached by visitors. Here a
long wall with two storeys of niches (Ill. 227) now faces upon a plantation of peach
and almond trees; but this garden is enclosed by a wall so high that a view of the
Palace is to be had only at intervals where the wall is in need of repairs. The best
view of the building is to be had from the roof of the Djamf id-Dabbaghah, from
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, Div. II, Sec. A, Pt. 4. 33
255
a bead-and-reel below, an ovolo carved with widely spaced egg-and-dart
The pulvinated frieze is adorned with a deeply
flowing rinceau of acanthus. The bed mouldings which are carved upon a
course of stone, consist of an egg-and-dart, a dentil band, and a narrow cyma
The modillions of the cornice are low, but project well to carry an over-
corona ornamented with vertical grooves and a sima carved with anthemions
It will be noticed in the photograph that the frieze was pierced
height of the order. . The side wall adjoining the anta has three, and probably had
four, storeys of niches (Ill. 225). The pilaster of the anta extends to the full height
of this wall; but the column was elevated upon a pedestal; still the height of the anta
was such that the shaft of the column was made more than 13 diameters high, and
gave the whole column a height of about 16 diameters which is of course absurd. But
the ornamental details of this order do not deserve the reputation they have been
given as examples of bad taste. The bases are of white marble and have a delicate
profile. The capital of the column and the cap of the pilaster were well designed and
beautifully wrought in the free and open manner which characterizes the capitals of the
Nymphaeum. The entablature is rather over-elaborately decorated, in the style of the
later Antonines, and the proportions are not perfect; but the work was executed with
rare skill in the hardest of materials. The three bands of the architrave are separated
by bead-and-reel mouldings, and this member is finished off with a richly carved cymatium
having·
in the middle, and a cavetto above.
cut and
separate
reversa.
hanging
and acanthus leaves.
perpendicularly with a large hole which was probably also cut through the cornice and
the architrave. It was perhaps intended to carry a mast of wood like those with which
the cornice of the Coliseum in Rome was provided.
Civic Buildings.
Under this title we may group the Palace, the Public Baths, the Basilica, the
Market, the Theatre, the Hippodrome, the Naumachia, and the remains of one or
two buildings of unknown purpose. A Greek theatre might be classified as a religious
building; but in Roman times the theatre became more and more of a civic, and perhaps
less of a religious building. Among the edifices enumerated above, the Theatre is the
only one that has received more than passing mention, and many have not been noticed
at all by the numerous explorers and travellers who have visited Bosra. From the
point of view of the history of architecture, some of these buildings are more important
than those which have been the object of more thorough examination ; for they represent
classes of structures which are less commonly found among the ruins of ancient cities.
The Palace. This ruined building is situated to the south of the East Arch, and,
although it is one of the most interesting edifices in Bosra, it has been barely mentioned
by three or four of the travellers who have written descriptions of the ancient city.
This is probably due to the fact that it is almost completely hidden by the modern
dwellings that are crowded around and within it. It is plainly visible from only one
side, the east, which is the side least likely to be approached by visitors. Here a
long wall with two storeys of niches (Ill. 227) now faces upon a plantation of peach
and almond trees; but this garden is enclosed by a wall so high that a view of the
Palace is to be had only at intervals where the wall is in need of repairs. The best
view of the building is to be had from the roof of the Djamf id-Dabbaghah, from
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, Div. II, Sec. A, Pt. 4. 33