DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45584#0090
302
Division II Section A Part 5
of concrete made of light, porous, scoriae laid in cement. It was adjusted to the square
compartment below it by means of beams, 1.78 m. long, laid across the angles of the
square at the level of a corbel course that is carried around the square about 1.50 m.
below the top of the wall. Above each angle-beam the wall is carried up inclining
slightly forward on a curve, but the ends of the curve join the straight wall at an
appreciable angle which is corrected in the lower part of the dome itself so that the
dome becomes perfectly circular. This scheme for adjusting a circular dome to a square
base, which might be called a pseudo-pendentive, is illustrated by a drawing made by
M. de Vogue1. The Kalybe of Umm-iz-Zetun, like those at il-Haiyat and Shakka,
faces the north. Its exterior walls are well preserved, and the subterranean chamber
is still accessible. The rear and side walls are built of half-finished, quadrated blocks,
and are devoid of openings. The facade which is entirely of highly finished stonework,
is partly concealed by modern constructions. The present floor level is elevated high
above the ancient level, and a broad flight of crudely made steps leads up to a plat-
form before the entrance. This main arch has been roughly walled up, and a small
doorway gives access to the now dark interior.
There are several well-preserved houses in the northern part of the town, with
highly finished front walls, ornamented door lintels, and shaded windows. One house,
in the northeast quarter, still preserves two storeys of colonnades, both of the Doric
order (Ill. 321), with its upper architrave moulded in right-lined profile. A modern
house in the western quarter was built around an ancient moulded arch with inscriptions,
now plastered over, in its spandrils.
1
121. il-haiyAt.
This place is situated on the northernmost slopes of the Djebel Hauran, in the
rolling foothills which are only slightly higher than the Ledja. I visited the site in
1900; but, on that occasion, had barely time to study the Kalybe to the south of the
village, which I have published.3
House, Date: 578 a. d. At the time of my second visit I explored the village,
and found the ancient house mentioned to me by Dr. Littmann in 1900. The house
in question is the largest in the town, and is occupied today by the Shekh of the village.
Its plan is unique (Ill. 322) among the ancient residences of Syria. It is large and
well designed, with no less than twenty five rooms, large and small. According to two
inscriptions 3 the house was erected by one Flavios Seos a procurator, under the famous
Alamundaros, patrician, in the year 578 a. d. If we are to believe that the procurator
with the Latin-Nabataean name, and his immediate family, were the only occupants of
this house, we must assume a very magnificent scale of living on the part of the
wealthy class in the Hauran in the sixth century of our era. The building has been
only slightly altered for modern use; the original plan and the interior arrangement of
the two floors are unchanged, but only a part of the upper floor is inhabited. The
house forms a large square of about 25 m. with an open court 10 m. square in the
middle. The court is reached through an arched passage opening into its southeast
angle. Within the court are four great arches, forming a square, which carry an open
gallery for the upper storey. The rooms on the ground floor are alternately large and
small, the former square with transverse arches, the latter oblong with corbel-and-slab
1 5. C., text, p. 44.
2 A. A. E. S. II, p. 397.
3 A. A, E. S. Ill, inscs 367, 368.
Division II Section A Part 5
of concrete made of light, porous, scoriae laid in cement. It was adjusted to the square
compartment below it by means of beams, 1.78 m. long, laid across the angles of the
square at the level of a corbel course that is carried around the square about 1.50 m.
below the top of the wall. Above each angle-beam the wall is carried up inclining
slightly forward on a curve, but the ends of the curve join the straight wall at an
appreciable angle which is corrected in the lower part of the dome itself so that the
dome becomes perfectly circular. This scheme for adjusting a circular dome to a square
base, which might be called a pseudo-pendentive, is illustrated by a drawing made by
M. de Vogue1. The Kalybe of Umm-iz-Zetun, like those at il-Haiyat and Shakka,
faces the north. Its exterior walls are well preserved, and the subterranean chamber
is still accessible. The rear and side walls are built of half-finished, quadrated blocks,
and are devoid of openings. The facade which is entirely of highly finished stonework,
is partly concealed by modern constructions. The present floor level is elevated high
above the ancient level, and a broad flight of crudely made steps leads up to a plat-
form before the entrance. This main arch has been roughly walled up, and a small
doorway gives access to the now dark interior.
There are several well-preserved houses in the northern part of the town, with
highly finished front walls, ornamented door lintels, and shaded windows. One house,
in the northeast quarter, still preserves two storeys of colonnades, both of the Doric
order (Ill. 321), with its upper architrave moulded in right-lined profile. A modern
house in the western quarter was built around an ancient moulded arch with inscriptions,
now plastered over, in its spandrils.
1
121. il-haiyAt.
This place is situated on the northernmost slopes of the Djebel Hauran, in the
rolling foothills which are only slightly higher than the Ledja. I visited the site in
1900; but, on that occasion, had barely time to study the Kalybe to the south of the
village, which I have published.3
House, Date: 578 a. d. At the time of my second visit I explored the village,
and found the ancient house mentioned to me by Dr. Littmann in 1900. The house
in question is the largest in the town, and is occupied today by the Shekh of the village.
Its plan is unique (Ill. 322) among the ancient residences of Syria. It is large and
well designed, with no less than twenty five rooms, large and small. According to two
inscriptions 3 the house was erected by one Flavios Seos a procurator, under the famous
Alamundaros, patrician, in the year 578 a. d. If we are to believe that the procurator
with the Latin-Nabataean name, and his immediate family, were the only occupants of
this house, we must assume a very magnificent scale of living on the part of the
wealthy class in the Hauran in the sixth century of our era. The building has been
only slightly altered for modern use; the original plan and the interior arrangement of
the two floors are unchanged, but only a part of the upper floor is inhabited. The
house forms a large square of about 25 m. with an open court 10 m. square in the
middle. The court is reached through an arched passage opening into its southeast
angle. Within the court are four great arches, forming a square, which carry an open
gallery for the upper storey. The rooms on the ground floor are alternately large and
small, the former square with transverse arches, the latter oblong with corbel-and-slab
1 5. C., text, p. 44.
2 A. A. E. S. II, p. 397.
3 A. A, E. S. Ill, inscs 367, 368.