DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45583#0068
Bosra eski Sham (Bostra or Bosra)
267
Ill. 237. Basilica, Southern Half of West Wall.
in the
It is
of the
takes
with
was
and
intertwining leaves and fruit. It is not unlikely that the bust which
that of the god Dushara springing out of the vine. This remnant
the profiles of the mouldings all but give a pre-Christian date to
outside, in the west faQade, the great arch, entirely devoid of mouldings,
Between these caps and the half
On
is seen to spring from caps of right-lined profile.
columns on either hand are what appear to be the lower angles of a pediment (Ill. 237).
These rise from the level of the tops of the pilaster caps, and have plain right-lined
mouldings. It is difficult to restore these pediments in any hypothetical design for the
original facade. It is not impossible, judging from the character of the stonework,
missing, and that there were rows of timber sockets in both side walls of the building;
this brought the conclusion that the caps opposite the pilasters at the west end were
corner caps and that the colonnades extended along the flanks of the Basilica. This
conjecture has been recorded in my plan (Ill. 236). The superstructure of the Basilica
is well shown in the photographs presented above. The masonry of the walls is of
the best type that appears in the architecture of Southern Syria, a highly finished type
in which alternate headers and stretchers are commonly employed. The walls are
1.30 m. thick, equally well finished on both sides, and the excellence of the construction
is attested by its present state of preser¬
vation. Lintel construction is predomi¬
nant, all the windows and doorways
being square topped (Ill. 238), the arch
appearing only in the apsis and
broad opening in the west wall.
perhaps significant that the arch
apsis is not a semicircle, but
an elliptical form. Above it are four
rectangular windows, three in one story
and one in the gable above. The half
dome of the apsis is of concrete like
the vaults of the baths. The building
is remarkable for its simplicity and its
lack of decoration. Its ornament is con¬
fined almost exclusively to the interior
where a few mouldings of delicate profile
embellish the apsis. One of these is
carried around the apsis at the spring
level of the half dome, it breaks out to
provide caps for the pilasters, and ends
against the side walls; the other adorns
the archivolt of the apsis. The key¬
stone of the apse arch projects well
forward of the mouldings, and appears
to have borne a human bust which has
been intentionally cut away; but the
soffit of the same keystone still preserves a well carved design of grape-vine twisted
into a knot
was defaced
of sculpture
this building.
the
267
Ill. 237. Basilica, Southern Half of West Wall.
in the
It is
of the
takes
with
was
and
intertwining leaves and fruit. It is not unlikely that the bust which
that of the god Dushara springing out of the vine. This remnant
the profiles of the mouldings all but give a pre-Christian date to
outside, in the west faQade, the great arch, entirely devoid of mouldings,
Between these caps and the half
On
is seen to spring from caps of right-lined profile.
columns on either hand are what appear to be the lower angles of a pediment (Ill. 237).
These rise from the level of the tops of the pilaster caps, and have plain right-lined
mouldings. It is difficult to restore these pediments in any hypothetical design for the
original facade. It is not impossible, judging from the character of the stonework,
missing, and that there were rows of timber sockets in both side walls of the building;
this brought the conclusion that the caps opposite the pilasters at the west end were
corner caps and that the colonnades extended along the flanks of the Basilica. This
conjecture has been recorded in my plan (Ill. 236). The superstructure of the Basilica
is well shown in the photographs presented above. The masonry of the walls is of
the best type that appears in the architecture of Southern Syria, a highly finished type
in which alternate headers and stretchers are commonly employed. The walls are
1.30 m. thick, equally well finished on both sides, and the excellence of the construction
is attested by its present state of preser¬
vation. Lintel construction is predomi¬
nant, all the windows and doorways
being square topped (Ill. 238), the arch
appearing only in the apsis and
broad opening in the west wall.
perhaps significant that the arch
apsis is not a semicircle, but
an elliptical form. Above it are four
rectangular windows, three in one story
and one in the gable above. The half
dome of the apsis is of concrete like
the vaults of the baths. The building
is remarkable for its simplicity and its
lack of decoration. Its ornament is con¬
fined almost exclusively to the interior
where a few mouldings of delicate profile
embellish the apsis. One of these is
carried around the apsis at the spring
level of the half dome, it breaks out to
provide caps for the pilasters, and ends
against the side walls; the other adorns
the archivolt of the apsis. The key¬
stone of the apse arch projects well
forward of the mouldings, and appears
to have borne a human bust which has
been intentionally cut away; but the
soffit of the same keystone still preserves a well carved design of grape-vine twisted
into a knot
was defaced
of sculpture
this building.
the