DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45586#0012
Sic (Seeia)
371
details come forth from the heaps of debris, one has only accurate measurements and
artistic judgement to depend upon to assist him in giving them the right places, and
mistakes may occur very readily, even with the most painstaking use of both. In the
Nabataean style we have as yet no fixed rules or· typical forms for the design of an
entablature, a doorway, or any other feature of a building, as we have in Classical
architecture. It is difficult to distinguish a member that may have been a frieze from
one that served as an architrave, or to tell a frieze from a cornice. I should have
been at a loss to restore the doorways of this style if I had not found one intact, with
its lintel and over-lintel and pediment above it, in a tomb in the valley, of which no
other parts are visible amid the mass
of debris. This doorway (Ill. 323) serves
to show that a sort of frieze and cornice
were executed as a single member,
forming a door-cap which was placed
directly upon the lintel with no forward
projection, and was carried on consoles
stone. These details, being in situ and
well preserved, were of great assistance
in restoring various features of the
buildings in the sacred precinct.
Historical Sketch.
The history of Sic must be derived
chiefly from the inscriptions. It is, to
a certain extent, the history of Auranitis;
first during the period of the Nabataean
kingdom ·, second, during the reigns of
the Idumaean rulers; and third, during
the period of Roman power from the
time of Trajan to the beginning of the
third century. The inscriptions found
here in Nabataean, in Greek, and in
bilingual form, are a sufficiently clear
index to the influence of Nabataean, Idumaean, and Roman political power. Of all the
three influences that of the Idumaeans appears to have been the strongest so far as the
inscriptions are concerned. The Nabataeans first appear in this region of the north
under their King Arethas III (circ. 86-62 b. c.) who took Damascus from the Syrian
Greeks under Antiochus XII soon after 85 b. c. Late in the reign of Arethas the
power of Rome began to be felt in the neighbourhood when, in 64-63 b. c., Pompey
estabished the province of Syria. At this time Damascus was taken from the Nabataeans,
and the northern boundary of their kingdom was fixed somewhere south of that city,
and north of the Hauran. It was not until forty years later (23 b. c.) that Rome forced
at the ends of the lintel. Above the
door-cap is a heavy, but very simple,
pediment cut from a single block of
371
details come forth from the heaps of debris, one has only accurate measurements and
artistic judgement to depend upon to assist him in giving them the right places, and
mistakes may occur very readily, even with the most painstaking use of both. In the
Nabataean style we have as yet no fixed rules or· typical forms for the design of an
entablature, a doorway, or any other feature of a building, as we have in Classical
architecture. It is difficult to distinguish a member that may have been a frieze from
one that served as an architrave, or to tell a frieze from a cornice. I should have
been at a loss to restore the doorways of this style if I had not found one intact, with
its lintel and over-lintel and pediment above it, in a tomb in the valley, of which no
other parts are visible amid the mass
of debris. This doorway (Ill. 323) serves
to show that a sort of frieze and cornice
were executed as a single member,
forming a door-cap which was placed
directly upon the lintel with no forward
projection, and was carried on consoles
stone. These details, being in situ and
well preserved, were of great assistance
in restoring various features of the
buildings in the sacred precinct.
Historical Sketch.
The history of Sic must be derived
chiefly from the inscriptions. It is, to
a certain extent, the history of Auranitis;
first during the period of the Nabataean
kingdom ·, second, during the reigns of
the Idumaean rulers; and third, during
the period of Roman power from the
time of Trajan to the beginning of the
third century. The inscriptions found
here in Nabataean, in Greek, and in
bilingual form, are a sufficiently clear
index to the influence of Nabataean, Idumaean, and Roman political power. Of all the
three influences that of the Idumaeans appears to have been the strongest so far as the
inscriptions are concerned. The Nabataeans first appear in this region of the north
under their King Arethas III (circ. 86-62 b. c.) who took Damascus from the Syrian
Greeks under Antiochus XII soon after 85 b. c. Late in the reign of Arethas the
power of Rome began to be felt in the neighbourhood when, in 64-63 b. c., Pompey
estabished the province of Syria. At this time Damascus was taken from the Nabataeans,
and the northern boundary of their kingdom was fixed somewhere south of that city,
and north of the Hauran. It was not until forty years later (23 b. c.) that Rome forced
at the ends of the lintel. Above the
door-cap is a heavy, but very simple,
pediment cut from a single block of