DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45594#0082
42
II. B. i. Kasr Ibn Warclan.
photograph was taken from point (a) in the plan, and shows (i) the crown of the lower vault
projecting from the heap of debris that has buried the whole lower story, (2) the
springing of a great arch, in four orders of bricks, that extended northward.
At the top of the wall, the lower courses of a high tunnel vault may be seen.
The opposite end of the L wall carries the springers of a great arch similar to the one
just described; the long south wall had narrow openings in two stories. Diagonally
opposite the L wall, and about 14 m. distant from it, is a low mass of masonry almost
buried in debris. This is T form in plan (see plan) and carries the springers of a
cross vault, and of a tunnel vault on opposite sides. This is too far away to have
been directly connected with the L wall.
I have therefore in the restored part of the
Ill. 40. Kasr Ibn Wardan, Barracks, Building Western.
The outer Wall, from the Northwest.
difficult, however, to speculate with regard
plan allowed it to correspond with the
foundations beyond the L wall, and have
inserted three other Ls to meet the arches
which sprung from the standing L and
have formed a rectangle enclosed by arches.
This brings the north and south arches
directly on axis with the entrance. By
disregarding the axis and placing the
restored Ls on the east side a little further
west, a square will be formed by the
arches, which will be equal in size to the
squares below the domes of the church
and the palace. This may have been a
square building with a dome set upon a
square of arches in the middle, and sur-
rounded by a narrow aisle or passage
covered by tunnel vaults. Following the
arrangement of other barracks, like that of
il-Anderin near by, and of Der il-Kahf
in the southern Haur^n, this building in
the middle of the camp might have been
a chapel for the guard; for it appears
to have been customary, in the Christian
period, to provide each camp, in Syria
at least, with a place of worship. It is
to this particular community which seems
to have
soldiers.
been composed of two classes, viz., the inhabitants of the palace and the
If the building in question was originally a chapel it would have provided
a second place of worship,
and there would thus have been one for each of the two
classes of the community.
General character and date of the ruins. I have already remarked upon the
foreign character of the architecture at Kasr Ibn Wardan, and have suggested that the
brick and marble used in construction and for decoration here were imported. No
one, I imagine, will question the pure Byzantine origin of these buildings, or will fail
to see the close relationship between this architecture and the architecture of the middle
II. B. i. Kasr Ibn Warclan.
photograph was taken from point (a) in the plan, and shows (i) the crown of the lower vault
projecting from the heap of debris that has buried the whole lower story, (2) the
springing of a great arch, in four orders of bricks, that extended northward.
At the top of the wall, the lower courses of a high tunnel vault may be seen.
The opposite end of the L wall carries the springers of a great arch similar to the one
just described; the long south wall had narrow openings in two stories. Diagonally
opposite the L wall, and about 14 m. distant from it, is a low mass of masonry almost
buried in debris. This is T form in plan (see plan) and carries the springers of a
cross vault, and of a tunnel vault on opposite sides. This is too far away to have
been directly connected with the L wall.
I have therefore in the restored part of the
Ill. 40. Kasr Ibn Wardan, Barracks, Building Western.
The outer Wall, from the Northwest.
difficult, however, to speculate with regard
plan allowed it to correspond with the
foundations beyond the L wall, and have
inserted three other Ls to meet the arches
which sprung from the standing L and
have formed a rectangle enclosed by arches.
This brings the north and south arches
directly on axis with the entrance. By
disregarding the axis and placing the
restored Ls on the east side a little further
west, a square will be formed by the
arches, which will be equal in size to the
squares below the domes of the church
and the palace. This may have been a
square building with a dome set upon a
square of arches in the middle, and sur-
rounded by a narrow aisle or passage
covered by tunnel vaults. Following the
arrangement of other barracks, like that of
il-Anderin near by, and of Der il-Kahf
in the southern Haur^n, this building in
the middle of the camp might have been
a chapel for the guard; for it appears
to have been customary, in the Christian
period, to provide each camp, in Syria
at least, with a place of worship. It is
to this particular community which seems
to have
soldiers.
been composed of two classes, viz., the inhabitants of the palace and the
If the building in question was originally a chapel it would have provided
a second place of worship,
and there would thus have been one for each of the two
classes of the community.
General character and date of the ruins. I have already remarked upon the
foreign character of the architecture at Kasr Ibn Wardan, and have suggested that the
brick and marble used in construction and for decoration here were imported. No
one, I imagine, will question the pure Byzantine origin of these buildings, or will fail
to see the close relationship between this architecture and the architecture of the middle