DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45584#0006
298
II. A. 5. The Hauran Plain and Djebel Hauran.
they were then; and it is probable that many others, not seen or not published by
M. de Vogue, have perished leaving no records whatever.
The Plain of the Hauran seems like another part of the world, here mile after
mile of gently rolling fields teem with the harvests of Syria in different stages of
development according to the season. This great expanse of open country is dotted
with villages which mark the sites of ancient towns. These places probably have never
been deserted: they are occupied today by settled Arabs of the Mohammedan faith —
Hawarni - with a small sprinkling of Christians who sometimes have villages of their
own. The villages are not so well built or so comfortable as the Druse villages of
the mountain, in spite of the wealth about them, perhaps because they are under the
eye of the tax collector, while the mountain villages enjoy the freedom of revolt. The
plain is exposed to incursions of hostile Druses from the mountains on the east, and
of the untamed Bedawin Arabs from the south, and is consequently supplied with
garrisons of Turkish soldiers at frequent intervals. Many of the villages of the plain
contain ancient buildings of greater or less importance, and in almost all of them
Greek inscriptions are to be found; but the district has not yet been thoroughly examined
for either, partly because of the difficulty in travelling from place to place during the
season of irrigation, and partly because the inhabitants, not unnaturally seeing an enemy
in every visitor, are far less hospitable than the dwellers in the mountain.
It is unnecessary to recount the names of the explorers who have visited the
mountain and the plain of the Hauran; for the list is practically the same as that of
the visitors to the southern Hauran given in Div. II, Sect, a, Part 2, Page 63. It is
important however, to name a small number whose work was of particular importance.
The map of the Prussian Consul Wetzstein, the pioneer explorer, is still authoritative.
M. de Vogue was the discoverer of the architectural wonders of the Djebel Hauran;
his plates illustrating about twenty of the ancient buildings are of the highest impor-
tance, especially because so many of the buildings have disappeared or are more com-
pletely ruined now than when he saw them. M. Waddington’s collections of the
inscriptions of the region will remain the most important work on that subject.
G. Schumacher has contributed important material in topography, architecture and in-
scriptions. The work of the American expedition in the region was, in large part, a
verification of that of former explorers by means of photographs, though several unknown
buildings were published and a number of new inscriptions were copied as the result
of their journey in 1900. The present publication is believed to make nearly complete
the record of buildings and inscriptions in the Djebel Hauran, except in so far as
examples of both may be brought to light by future excavations; but in the plain there
still remains much to be done; for the itineraries of the Princeton expeditions of 1904—5
and 1909 were no more than two direct journeys through the country without attempt
to reach every ancient site.
Periods. The architectural periods of this region have been as diverse as its
periods of political history. Nabataean remains are to be found from one end of the
mountain to the other, the great centre of Nabataean architecture being at Sf; and the
Nabataean Kingdom is known to have extended up to, and to have included, the city
of Damascus in the first century of our era, though no architectural remains of this
people have been discovered in the plain. Kanawat, ancient Canatha, was a member
of the federation of Greek cities - the Decapolis —, and is the most important place in
II. A. 5. The Hauran Plain and Djebel Hauran.
they were then; and it is probable that many others, not seen or not published by
M. de Vogue, have perished leaving no records whatever.
The Plain of the Hauran seems like another part of the world, here mile after
mile of gently rolling fields teem with the harvests of Syria in different stages of
development according to the season. This great expanse of open country is dotted
with villages which mark the sites of ancient towns. These places probably have never
been deserted: they are occupied today by settled Arabs of the Mohammedan faith —
Hawarni - with a small sprinkling of Christians who sometimes have villages of their
own. The villages are not so well built or so comfortable as the Druse villages of
the mountain, in spite of the wealth about them, perhaps because they are under the
eye of the tax collector, while the mountain villages enjoy the freedom of revolt. The
plain is exposed to incursions of hostile Druses from the mountains on the east, and
of the untamed Bedawin Arabs from the south, and is consequently supplied with
garrisons of Turkish soldiers at frequent intervals. Many of the villages of the plain
contain ancient buildings of greater or less importance, and in almost all of them
Greek inscriptions are to be found; but the district has not yet been thoroughly examined
for either, partly because of the difficulty in travelling from place to place during the
season of irrigation, and partly because the inhabitants, not unnaturally seeing an enemy
in every visitor, are far less hospitable than the dwellers in the mountain.
It is unnecessary to recount the names of the explorers who have visited the
mountain and the plain of the Hauran; for the list is practically the same as that of
the visitors to the southern Hauran given in Div. II, Sect, a, Part 2, Page 63. It is
important however, to name a small number whose work was of particular importance.
The map of the Prussian Consul Wetzstein, the pioneer explorer, is still authoritative.
M. de Vogue was the discoverer of the architectural wonders of the Djebel Hauran;
his plates illustrating about twenty of the ancient buildings are of the highest impor-
tance, especially because so many of the buildings have disappeared or are more com-
pletely ruined now than when he saw them. M. Waddington’s collections of the
inscriptions of the region will remain the most important work on that subject.
G. Schumacher has contributed important material in topography, architecture and in-
scriptions. The work of the American expedition in the region was, in large part, a
verification of that of former explorers by means of photographs, though several unknown
buildings were published and a number of new inscriptions were copied as the result
of their journey in 1900. The present publication is believed to make nearly complete
the record of buildings and inscriptions in the Djebel Hauran, except in so far as
examples of both may be brought to light by future excavations; but in the plain there
still remains much to be done; for the itineraries of the Princeton expeditions of 1904—5
and 1909 were no more than two direct journeys through the country without attempt
to reach every ancient site.
Periods. The architectural periods of this region have been as diverse as its
periods of political history. Nabataean remains are to be found from one end of the
mountain to the other, the great centre of Nabataean architecture being at Sf; and the
Nabataean Kingdom is known to have extended up to, and to have included, the city
of Damascus in the first century of our era, though no architectural remains of this
people have been discovered in the plain. Kanawat, ancient Canatha, was a member
of the federation of Greek cities - the Decapolis —, and is the most important place in