DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45586#0045
Sic (Seeia)
395
At the end of the lintel is an attached console, quite like the other consoles found
here in form and scale, but having, as an added enrichment, a cluster of large grapes
hanging against its outer face. This is reminiscent of the grape-clusters that depend
from the volutes of some of the pilaster-caps of the temple of Ba'al Shamin. I did not
succeed in finding any remnant of the frieze or cornice that undoubtedly rested upon
this lintel and its console.
No inscription has as yet been found which can be connected with this temple,
and there is little in its ornamental details that is serviceable in determining its date.
The little carving that remains seems to have much in common with the early work
here at Sic, and there is none that partakes of the character of the work which is
known to have been executed under the second Agrippa. The temple would seem
therefore to belong to the period between 33 b. c. and 50 a. d.
Roman Gate. The third, or outermost, gate, that at the end of the long paved
road that leads up from the valley, is one of the two monuments connected with the
sacred precinct that show the influence of Roman domination in Sic. I published this
gate, in a more or less tentative manner,1 from observations made in 1900. The
monument has suffered severely since that time; but the removal of some of the fallen
blocks of stone has made the plan somewhat clearer than it was then. This is evident
in a comparison of my first outline plan and restoration [A. A. E. S. Fig. 127) with
my new and complete plan given herewith (Ill. 342). It is now plain that the best
preserved part of the gate, that shown in a photograph on page 363 A. A. E. S., is
not the side of the northernmost of the three openings, but the right side of the middle
opening on the east face. The plan and arrangement of this middle arch, with its
flanking pilasters and quarter-columns, is substantially correct in my earlier publication,
but the side openings are much plainer. Here there are only the shorter pilasters which
carried the arches, and the terminating members of this face are tall plain pilasters
of the Corinthian order. The well preserved piece of the monument shown in a photo-
graph 3 in my earlier publication is presented in a drawing made to scale in this later
study, and is marked X in Ill. 342. The caps of the lower order of pilasters, and
the compound caps of the quarter-columns and the taller pilasters were found in the
ruins much mutilated. The architrave and cornice, shown in photographs in the former
publication {A. A. E. S. II, p. 364) are drawn to scale in the present work (Ill. 342).
In addition to these, the main cornice was found, and parts of the raking cornice which
was placed over a ressaut above the quarter-columns, and shows that there was a gable
over the middle arch. The western face of the gateway was treated in a much simpler
manner, and in the Ionic order, as is shown in Ill. 342. I found no carved details
belonging to this face excepting the pilaster caps (Y in Ill. 342). The lower order of
pilasters on this face had simply moulded caps, and the architrave and cornice had
plain Ionic mouldings, the frieze apparently being quite plain, and in strong contrast to
the over-elaborate decoration of the east face. This rich carving, shown in the drawing,
was applied to the pannels of the pilasters and the three members of the entablature.
The former is illustrated in my drawing (Detail of X), where the minor order of pilasters
is given panels with an interlacing pattern of grape-vine treated in a very realistic
manner, and the major order is treated with similar panels carved with a rinceau
which is probably to be taken for acanthus, unless it represents some native plant, and
1 A. A. E. S. II, pp. 362-364.
2 Ibid. II. p. 363.
395
At the end of the lintel is an attached console, quite like the other consoles found
here in form and scale, but having, as an added enrichment, a cluster of large grapes
hanging against its outer face. This is reminiscent of the grape-clusters that depend
from the volutes of some of the pilaster-caps of the temple of Ba'al Shamin. I did not
succeed in finding any remnant of the frieze or cornice that undoubtedly rested upon
this lintel and its console.
No inscription has as yet been found which can be connected with this temple,
and there is little in its ornamental details that is serviceable in determining its date.
The little carving that remains seems to have much in common with the early work
here at Sic, and there is none that partakes of the character of the work which is
known to have been executed under the second Agrippa. The temple would seem
therefore to belong to the period between 33 b. c. and 50 a. d.
Roman Gate. The third, or outermost, gate, that at the end of the long paved
road that leads up from the valley, is one of the two monuments connected with the
sacred precinct that show the influence of Roman domination in Sic. I published this
gate, in a more or less tentative manner,1 from observations made in 1900. The
monument has suffered severely since that time; but the removal of some of the fallen
blocks of stone has made the plan somewhat clearer than it was then. This is evident
in a comparison of my first outline plan and restoration [A. A. E. S. Fig. 127) with
my new and complete plan given herewith (Ill. 342). It is now plain that the best
preserved part of the gate, that shown in a photograph on page 363 A. A. E. S., is
not the side of the northernmost of the three openings, but the right side of the middle
opening on the east face. The plan and arrangement of this middle arch, with its
flanking pilasters and quarter-columns, is substantially correct in my earlier publication,
but the side openings are much plainer. Here there are only the shorter pilasters which
carried the arches, and the terminating members of this face are tall plain pilasters
of the Corinthian order. The well preserved piece of the monument shown in a photo-
graph 3 in my earlier publication is presented in a drawing made to scale in this later
study, and is marked X in Ill. 342. The caps of the lower order of pilasters, and
the compound caps of the quarter-columns and the taller pilasters were found in the
ruins much mutilated. The architrave and cornice, shown in photographs in the former
publication {A. A. E. S. II, p. 364) are drawn to scale in the present work (Ill. 342).
In addition to these, the main cornice was found, and parts of the raking cornice which
was placed over a ressaut above the quarter-columns, and shows that there was a gable
over the middle arch. The western face of the gateway was treated in a much simpler
manner, and in the Ionic order, as is shown in Ill. 342. I found no carved details
belonging to this face excepting the pilaster caps (Y in Ill. 342). The lower order of
pilasters on this face had simply moulded caps, and the architrave and cornice had
plain Ionic mouldings, the frieze apparently being quite plain, and in strong contrast to
the over-elaborate decoration of the east face. This rich carving, shown in the drawing,
was applied to the pannels of the pilasters and the three members of the entablature.
The former is illustrated in my drawing (Detail of X), where the minor order of pilasters
is given panels with an interlacing pattern of grape-vine treated in a very realistic
manner, and the major order is treated with similar panels carved with a rinceau
which is probably to be taken for acanthus, unless it represents some native plant, and
1 A. A. E. S. II, pp. 362-364.
2 Ibid. II. p. 363.