DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45584#0063
344
Division II Section A Part 5
the west wall at its southeast angle a stair-tower projects; west of this are two small
square rooms, the second being in the angle of an enclosure, in front of the church,
which has two long narrow apartments on its west side and a much larger oblong
building spanned by four transverse arches, bounding it on the north side. This church
is as bare of ornament as are most of the Christian edifices of the Hauran. The name
of the architect is perhaps to be found in an inscription 1 on the cap of the easternmost
pier in the gallery.
The extensive ruin on the opposite side of the wadi to the north of Nimreh, from
a distance gives the impression of being of great interest and importance; but a nearer
view reveals the fact that it was a very late and poorly-built Christian structure, pro-
bably a monastery, considerably altered and extended in early Moslem times when the
southeast.
The mouldings above
mouldings
and good
protrudes from the
wall at the
of course, is a more
311. Although naught but the front wall and entrance of this little
building was converted into a
crude castle. The only part
of it of which I shall take
note is a small fragment of
excellent masonry with a fine
arch
which
crude
This,
ancient structure which was
incorporated in the later
either in the construction of
This
building. Most of this little edifice is hidden (Ill. 310)
the later one or by the ruins of both. Its eastern face is all that can be seen,
has a high base-course capped by a base-moulding (Ill. 311) below a fine smooth wall
finished at the top by a right-lined cornice. The entrance is dignified by being brought
slightly forward of the main wall. An arched vestibule was placed before the doorway,
which is quite plain but for a cross in a disc upon the lintel.
the arch differ in profile from the regular cornice, as is shown in the larger scale
drawing in Ill.
building can be studied, there can be but little doubt that it was a tomb of the third
or fourth century after Christ.
108. tafha.
This deserted ruined town, a short distance west of Nimreh, is situated, like many
Mediaeval towns of Europe, at the top of a high truncated conical hill. The site is
fine and commanding. The place had been deserted for a number of years before
I made my first visit in 1900; but more or less recent occupation had rendered the
ruin difficult to study because the Druses have adopted, almost without change, the
building methods of their ancient predecessors; and their houses, when somewhat
dilapidated, are almost identical with ancient structures of the cruder and more primitive
types. The place is known to have been an ancient religious centre and the site of
a temple. On the north side of the church may now be seen a broad flight of steps,
part natural and part artificial, which might at a glance, be mistaken for a section
1 III. a. 5, insc. 759.
Division II Section A Part 5
the west wall at its southeast angle a stair-tower projects; west of this are two small
square rooms, the second being in the angle of an enclosure, in front of the church,
which has two long narrow apartments on its west side and a much larger oblong
building spanned by four transverse arches, bounding it on the north side. This church
is as bare of ornament as are most of the Christian edifices of the Hauran. The name
of the architect is perhaps to be found in an inscription 1 on the cap of the easternmost
pier in the gallery.
The extensive ruin on the opposite side of the wadi to the north of Nimreh, from
a distance gives the impression of being of great interest and importance; but a nearer
view reveals the fact that it was a very late and poorly-built Christian structure, pro-
bably a monastery, considerably altered and extended in early Moslem times when the
southeast.
The mouldings above
mouldings
and good
protrudes from the
wall at the
of course, is a more
311. Although naught but the front wall and entrance of this little
building was converted into a
crude castle. The only part
of it of which I shall take
note is a small fragment of
excellent masonry with a fine
arch
which
crude
This,
ancient structure which was
incorporated in the later
either in the construction of
This
building. Most of this little edifice is hidden (Ill. 310)
the later one or by the ruins of both. Its eastern face is all that can be seen,
has a high base-course capped by a base-moulding (Ill. 311) below a fine smooth wall
finished at the top by a right-lined cornice. The entrance is dignified by being brought
slightly forward of the main wall. An arched vestibule was placed before the doorway,
which is quite plain but for a cross in a disc upon the lintel.
the arch differ in profile from the regular cornice, as is shown in the larger scale
drawing in Ill.
building can be studied, there can be but little doubt that it was a tomb of the third
or fourth century after Christ.
108. tafha.
This deserted ruined town, a short distance west of Nimreh, is situated, like many
Mediaeval towns of Europe, at the top of a high truncated conical hill. The site is
fine and commanding. The place had been deserted for a number of years before
I made my first visit in 1900; but more or less recent occupation had rendered the
ruin difficult to study because the Druses have adopted, almost without change, the
building methods of their ancient predecessors; and their houses, when somewhat
dilapidated, are almost identical with ancient structures of the cruder and more primitive
types. The place is known to have been an ancient religious centre and the site of
a temple. On the north side of the church may now be seen a broad flight of steps,
part natural and part artificial, which might at a glance, be mistaken for a section
1 III. a. 5, insc. 759.