DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45584#0058
340
Division II Section A Part 5
verse arch which carries the roof of slabs that served as a terrace for the upper storey
of the main part of the house. This room has large windows in deep embrasures,
and a very well made latrina opening out from the east wall. Just beside the entrance
to this little room is a stone water-basin corbelled out from the wall with a niche beside
it for a ewer. The double gates of the town of which there are numerous examples
provide excellent specimens of the two-leaved doors of basalt which are among the
most characteristic features of the architecture of the Hauran,
102. MUSHENNEF (NELA\
This ancient and almost deserted place is the site of a beautiful little temple first
published by the American Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900; but there are other
ruins of ancient buildings that constituted a town of considerable size to the south and
east of the temple and upon the slope to the southeast that descends toward a wadi.
M. Waddington1 identified the site as the ancient Nela, and was the first to call
attention to the antiquity of the town as a site of ancient worship, by means of an
inscription of Agrippa I, which dates from the early years of the first century after
Christ. The temple belongs to a period about a century later; and various additions,
or renovations, were made as late as the reign of Alexander Severus. A plan of the
temple and its precinct, a restoration of the facade, and four photographs were published
by the American Expedition.3 M. Dussaud published two photographs 3 in 1901. The
ruins outside the temple precinct are chiefly those of residences, and have been occupied
for so long, and built over so many times, that there is little chance of their containing
anything of interest to the history of architecture; but it is probable that inscriptions
will be coming to light here for many years to come.
103. id-diyAtheh.
If one follows the bee of the Wadi ish-Sham southeastward from Mushennef he
will pass a number of small villages built out of old material and, in some cases, occupying
the sites of ancient settlements. But no remains of antiquity of sufficient importance
have come from any of these places to warrant a description of the sites here, with
the exception of id-Diyatheh, the last site in the wadi, at the very foot of the Djebel
Hauran, and on the edge of the stony desert of il-Harra. Here there are quite
extensive remains of a rather poorly built town lying to the west and south of the
ruins of an ancient fortress which was one of the line of defended posts along the
eastern frontier of ancient Atiranitis. This ancient stronghold against unfriendly Bedawin
is situated at the top of the south bank of the wadi. It is a complete fortress of oblong
plan (Ill. 307) 50 m. wide and 76 m. long, inside measurements. The walls are stout,
being laid in mortar, over 2 m. thick, and reinforced by towers, or redoubts, at the
four angles and in the middle of the two long sides. In the middle of the north wall
is a single tower in which was a double arched entrance, and in the middle of the
opposite wall there are two towers, placed close together, which may have defended
a gate in the space between them; but it was impossible, owing to the masses of debris,
1 Wadd. insc. 2217.
2 A. A. E.S. pp. 346-351.
3 V-A.S. pp. 152, 153.
Division II Section A Part 5
verse arch which carries the roof of slabs that served as a terrace for the upper storey
of the main part of the house. This room has large windows in deep embrasures,
and a very well made latrina opening out from the east wall. Just beside the entrance
to this little room is a stone water-basin corbelled out from the wall with a niche beside
it for a ewer. The double gates of the town of which there are numerous examples
provide excellent specimens of the two-leaved doors of basalt which are among the
most characteristic features of the architecture of the Hauran,
102. MUSHENNEF (NELA\
This ancient and almost deserted place is the site of a beautiful little temple first
published by the American Expedition to Syria in 1899-1900; but there are other
ruins of ancient buildings that constituted a town of considerable size to the south and
east of the temple and upon the slope to the southeast that descends toward a wadi.
M. Waddington1 identified the site as the ancient Nela, and was the first to call
attention to the antiquity of the town as a site of ancient worship, by means of an
inscription of Agrippa I, which dates from the early years of the first century after
Christ. The temple belongs to a period about a century later; and various additions,
or renovations, were made as late as the reign of Alexander Severus. A plan of the
temple and its precinct, a restoration of the facade, and four photographs were published
by the American Expedition.3 M. Dussaud published two photographs 3 in 1901. The
ruins outside the temple precinct are chiefly those of residences, and have been occupied
for so long, and built over so many times, that there is little chance of their containing
anything of interest to the history of architecture; but it is probable that inscriptions
will be coming to light here for many years to come.
103. id-diyAtheh.
If one follows the bee of the Wadi ish-Sham southeastward from Mushennef he
will pass a number of small villages built out of old material and, in some cases, occupying
the sites of ancient settlements. But no remains of antiquity of sufficient importance
have come from any of these places to warrant a description of the sites here, with
the exception of id-Diyatheh, the last site in the wadi, at the very foot of the Djebel
Hauran, and on the edge of the stony desert of il-Harra. Here there are quite
extensive remains of a rather poorly built town lying to the west and south of the
ruins of an ancient fortress which was one of the line of defended posts along the
eastern frontier of ancient Atiranitis. This ancient stronghold against unfriendly Bedawin
is situated at the top of the south bank of the wadi. It is a complete fortress of oblong
plan (Ill. 307) 50 m. wide and 76 m. long, inside measurements. The walls are stout,
being laid in mortar, over 2 m. thick, and reinforced by towers, or redoubts, at the
four angles and in the middle of the two long sides. In the middle of the north wall
is a single tower in which was a double arched entrance, and in the middle of the
opposite wall there are two towers, placed close together, which may have defended
a gate in the space between them; but it was impossible, owing to the masses of debris,
1 Wadd. insc. 2217.
2 A. A. E.S. pp. 346-351.
3 V-A.S. pp. 152, 153.