DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45588#0018
414
Division II Section A Part 7
termination of the architraves at either end of this front wall, and the semicircle of
highly finished stonework, indicate to my view that a portico of four columns stood upon
the projecting part of the podium, that the middle intercolumniation of this porch was
arcuated, and that the whole porch was roofed with stone slabs which were inserted
into the wall in the space now filled with broken stones; and thus I have represented
it in the small restoration of the front (Ill. 354). If this be true, the uppermost storey
was built while the roofing slabs of the porch were in place. The cornice only was
removed from the side walls, and the gable end from the rear wall, at the time; for
the upper walls rise flush with the face of the plain frieze. The wall structure of the
top storey is like that of a good class of Christian work. It is finished off in a bevelled
cornice. There is a large opening closed by a stone door, in the south wall, and
above it is a smaller opening filled with a perforated slab. Openings similar to this
appear on other sides. The added storey may have been a columbarium as some one
has suggested, since it appears that actual dovecotes were sometimes erected as a part
of tombs in Syria ·, yet I am unable to state whether this custom prevailed in Pagan
or in Christian times. In any event it was not a common custom, if we may judge
by the tombs that have been spared by time in southern and northern Syria.
126. TELL ID-DIBBEH.
On a small plateau some eight or ten metres higher than the surrounding country,
and possibly a low, small, extinct crater, is the deserted ruin of this name. The site
is near the southern edge of the Ledja. The upper part of the plateau is surrounded
by a wall of crude and massive construction. There are roughly built walls within the
surrounding wall; but no cut stones were seen. The ruins seem to be of prehistoric
origin. There was a road which led from the plain to the top of the plateau, and
there is a good spring near the lower end of the road.
127. nedjrAn.
One of the larger Druse villages in the southern part of the Ledja, not far from
the rim. The ancient site upon which the present village was built appears to have
been of no great importance. The tower which to-day dominates the village was probably
of Christian origin and may have belonged to a church ; but the modern buildings
which cluster about it make it impossible to prove this. The place has been completely
rebuilt, and there are very few signs of antiquity; yet the settlement was among the
more ancient of the region, as is shown by an inscription 1 of Agrippa.
128. DER IL-ASMAR.
This is the deserted ruin of a small and rather crudely built early Christian village.
129. UMM IL-CALAK.
Situated on a small, low, plateau, this deserted ruin appears to be entirely of
prehistoric origin, like Tell-id-Dibbeh described above. A heavy, crude, wall surrounds
1 Div. Ill, inscr. 785.
Division II Section A Part 7
termination of the architraves at either end of this front wall, and the semicircle of
highly finished stonework, indicate to my view that a portico of four columns stood upon
the projecting part of the podium, that the middle intercolumniation of this porch was
arcuated, and that the whole porch was roofed with stone slabs which were inserted
into the wall in the space now filled with broken stones; and thus I have represented
it in the small restoration of the front (Ill. 354). If this be true, the uppermost storey
was built while the roofing slabs of the porch were in place. The cornice only was
removed from the side walls, and the gable end from the rear wall, at the time; for
the upper walls rise flush with the face of the plain frieze. The wall structure of the
top storey is like that of a good class of Christian work. It is finished off in a bevelled
cornice. There is a large opening closed by a stone door, in the south wall, and
above it is a smaller opening filled with a perforated slab. Openings similar to this
appear on other sides. The added storey may have been a columbarium as some one
has suggested, since it appears that actual dovecotes were sometimes erected as a part
of tombs in Syria ·, yet I am unable to state whether this custom prevailed in Pagan
or in Christian times. In any event it was not a common custom, if we may judge
by the tombs that have been spared by time in southern and northern Syria.
126. TELL ID-DIBBEH.
On a small plateau some eight or ten metres higher than the surrounding country,
and possibly a low, small, extinct crater, is the deserted ruin of this name. The site
is near the southern edge of the Ledja. The upper part of the plateau is surrounded
by a wall of crude and massive construction. There are roughly built walls within the
surrounding wall; but no cut stones were seen. The ruins seem to be of prehistoric
origin. There was a road which led from the plain to the top of the plateau, and
there is a good spring near the lower end of the road.
127. nedjrAn.
One of the larger Druse villages in the southern part of the Ledja, not far from
the rim. The ancient site upon which the present village was built appears to have
been of no great importance. The tower which to-day dominates the village was probably
of Christian origin and may have belonged to a church ; but the modern buildings
which cluster about it make it impossible to prove this. The place has been completely
rebuilt, and there are very few signs of antiquity; yet the settlement was among the
more ancient of the region, as is shown by an inscription 1 of Agrippa.
128. DER IL-ASMAR.
This is the deserted ruin of a small and rather crudely built early Christian village.
129. UMM IL-CALAK.
Situated on a small, low, plateau, this deserted ruin appears to be entirely of
prehistoric origin, like Tell-id-Dibbeh described above. A heavy, crude, wall surrounds
1 Div. Ill, inscr. 785.