DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45584#0080
Road Kanawat to il-Kefr. Suweda. cAtil.
355
shows mangers, or cupboards, in the thickness of the walls. These towers resemble the
Nabataean tomb-towers of Sic, in their construction, but were certainly not tombs. They
may have been erected for defence; but the grouping of so many in one place, and
the absence of any town or village in the vicinity are hard to explain in this con-
nection. They look like windmills; but the age of the invention of this kind of mill
is not known. It seems hardly likely that their purpose can be determined now.
113. SUWEDA (SOADA?) (DICWYSZAS).
This large modern village, with its Turkish barracks and Seraya, was the site of
one of the earliest Nabataean towns, and an important seat of the worship of Dushara.
It still possesses, in proof of its antiquity, the tomb of Hamrath, which is the earliest
dateable Nabataean monument, and the ruins of a Nabataean temple, both older than
the Christian era. The tomb of Hamrath has been all but demolished in the con-
struction of some new building; but the temple remains a ruin of great beauty and
interest. The town also boasts, among its monuments of later periods, an arched gate
of some importance, a nymphaeum, a theatre, a basilica, and a tower; but most of
these are so surrounded and shut off by modern buildings that they are difficult to
observe, and have lost all charm as antiquities. The tomb of Hamrath and the temple
were first published by M. de Vogue1 who also gives a plan of the basilica.2 The
American Expedition republished the tomb, with a photograph3 of the monument as
it was in 1900, and presented a new plan of the temple, and six photographs.4 Pro-
fessor Briinnow gives extracts from all the references to Suwfeda in a number of works
published by visitors since Burckhardt’s time, and gives photographs of the gate,5 the
temple,6 and the tomb, of which he also published an interesting restoration.7 Suweda
which was perhaps the ancient SoadaZ and later Dionysius, is situated at the foot of
the western slopes of the Djebel Hauran, and was on the Roman road from Bosra to
Kanawat. Its present garrison is the chief defense of the plain against the Arabs, or
the Druses in times of rebellion.
114. CATIL (ATHELA\
cAtil is a small village just to the southwest of Kanawat, situated about half way
down the slope which descends into the plain. The whole village is built of ancient
building material, almost every house boasting of fragments of rich carving; and there
are two small temples of the Roman period which are still to be seen among the
modern constructions. The two temples are substantially alike in size, plan, and
details; one of them is dated by a Greek inscription of the year 151 a. d. A plan
and restoration of the fagade which answers for both, and a photograph of each, were
published by the American Expedition,9 and Professor Briinnow publishes two photo-
graphs 10 of the temples, one of which is the important photograph by Dumas of Beirut,
taken while the West Temple was in a better state of preservation than it is now,
and furnishing indisputable proof of the employment of the arcuated entablature above
1 S.C. Pls i and 4. 2 Ibid. Pl. 19. 3 A.A.E.S. II, p. 325. 4 ibid. p. 324-334.
8 P. A. Ill, p. 90. 6 Ibid. p. 93. 7 Ibid. pp. 98-100.
s Wad. 2307, cf. M.S.M. p. 21. 9 A. A. E. S. II, pp. 343-346· ™P.A. Ill, p. 103.
355
shows mangers, or cupboards, in the thickness of the walls. These towers resemble the
Nabataean tomb-towers of Sic, in their construction, but were certainly not tombs. They
may have been erected for defence; but the grouping of so many in one place, and
the absence of any town or village in the vicinity are hard to explain in this con-
nection. They look like windmills; but the age of the invention of this kind of mill
is not known. It seems hardly likely that their purpose can be determined now.
113. SUWEDA (SOADA?) (DICWYSZAS).
This large modern village, with its Turkish barracks and Seraya, was the site of
one of the earliest Nabataean towns, and an important seat of the worship of Dushara.
It still possesses, in proof of its antiquity, the tomb of Hamrath, which is the earliest
dateable Nabataean monument, and the ruins of a Nabataean temple, both older than
the Christian era. The tomb of Hamrath has been all but demolished in the con-
struction of some new building; but the temple remains a ruin of great beauty and
interest. The town also boasts, among its monuments of later periods, an arched gate
of some importance, a nymphaeum, a theatre, a basilica, and a tower; but most of
these are so surrounded and shut off by modern buildings that they are difficult to
observe, and have lost all charm as antiquities. The tomb of Hamrath and the temple
were first published by M. de Vogue1 who also gives a plan of the basilica.2 The
American Expedition republished the tomb, with a photograph3 of the monument as
it was in 1900, and presented a new plan of the temple, and six photographs.4 Pro-
fessor Briinnow gives extracts from all the references to Suwfeda in a number of works
published by visitors since Burckhardt’s time, and gives photographs of the gate,5 the
temple,6 and the tomb, of which he also published an interesting restoration.7 Suweda
which was perhaps the ancient SoadaZ and later Dionysius, is situated at the foot of
the western slopes of the Djebel Hauran, and was on the Roman road from Bosra to
Kanawat. Its present garrison is the chief defense of the plain against the Arabs, or
the Druses in times of rebellion.
114. CATIL (ATHELA\
cAtil is a small village just to the southwest of Kanawat, situated about half way
down the slope which descends into the plain. The whole village is built of ancient
building material, almost every house boasting of fragments of rich carving; and there
are two small temples of the Roman period which are still to be seen among the
modern constructions. The two temples are substantially alike in size, plan, and
details; one of them is dated by a Greek inscription of the year 151 a. d. A plan
and restoration of the fagade which answers for both, and a photograph of each, were
published by the American Expedition,9 and Professor Briinnow publishes two photo-
graphs 10 of the temples, one of which is the important photograph by Dumas of Beirut,
taken while the West Temple was in a better state of preservation than it is now,
and furnishing indisputable proof of the employment of the arcuated entablature above
1 S.C. Pls i and 4. 2 Ibid. Pl. 19. 3 A.A.E.S. II, p. 325. 4 ibid. p. 324-334.
8 P. A. Ill, p. 90. 6 Ibid. p. 93. 7 Ibid. pp. 98-100.
s Wad. 2307, cf. M.S.M. p. 21. 9 A. A. E. S. II, pp. 343-346· ™P.A. Ill, p. 103.