DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45598#0005
IL-ANDERIN — KERRATIN - MARATA.
INTRODUCTION.
The map presented as a frontispiece to Part I, Section B, includes the region
discussed in the following pages. The introduction offered in that part, so far as its
references to architecture are concerned, might also almost serve as introductory remarks
to the part which here follows. Geographically the two districts may be considered
as one; — a long narrow strip of rolling country, bounded on the west by the ranges
of mountains on the east side of the Orontes, and on the west by the desert. Geo-
logically there appears to be no difference between the southern and the northern
district; for the basalt formation extends from Selemiyeh (east of Hama) to Aleppo;
though our map includes some ruins in limestone on a narrow fringe along its north-
eastern boundary. A smaller proportion of the ruined towns in the upper district have
been rebuilt for mediaeval or modern habitation than in the lower, and there are fewer
villages, which accounts for a better state of preservation in the ruins. In architectural
remains the differences are slight; the chief building material is the same in both;
while the methods of constructing walls and arches, the use of columns, and the em-
ployment of huge lintel-stones, are common to both districts; the kinds of buildings
erected are of the same order, and it is only in such matters as ground plans and
minor ornamental details that we find any considerable difference; and these matters
were effected by the presence of a proportion of limestone, and the proximity of the
rich civilization of the Djebel Riha to the northern district. The age of the ancient
monuments is practically the same here as in the Ala; for, though none of those
crude and massive structures for defense, which represent the earliest building efforts
in the cAla, are to be found here, the late Roman temple at Ma'aishurin (p. 94)
corresponds to a temple of about the same period at il-Habbat (p. 9), both belonging
to the end of the second or the beginning of the third century a.d., and the latest
buildings in both districts belong to approximately the same epoch, i.e. the latter part
of the sixth century. It may be said, however, that the dated inscriptions upon the
buildings described in this Part present a much fuller and more regular chronological
sequence; for the fourth and fifth centuries are far better represented in the buildings
of the northern district, but this is partly due to the fact that there is a larger number
of dated inscriptions.
The ruins of the city of il-Anderin are a perfect illustration of the class of ruins
described on pages 2 and 3 of the introduction to Part I of this section; for here
almost all the buildings were constructed in but small part of stone, the lower courses
INTRODUCTION.
The map presented as a frontispiece to Part I, Section B, includes the region
discussed in the following pages. The introduction offered in that part, so far as its
references to architecture are concerned, might also almost serve as introductory remarks
to the part which here follows. Geographically the two districts may be considered
as one; — a long narrow strip of rolling country, bounded on the west by the ranges
of mountains on the east side of the Orontes, and on the west by the desert. Geo-
logically there appears to be no difference between the southern and the northern
district; for the basalt formation extends from Selemiyeh (east of Hama) to Aleppo;
though our map includes some ruins in limestone on a narrow fringe along its north-
eastern boundary. A smaller proportion of the ruined towns in the upper district have
been rebuilt for mediaeval or modern habitation than in the lower, and there are fewer
villages, which accounts for a better state of preservation in the ruins. In architectural
remains the differences are slight; the chief building material is the same in both;
while the methods of constructing walls and arches, the use of columns, and the em-
ployment of huge lintel-stones, are common to both districts; the kinds of buildings
erected are of the same order, and it is only in such matters as ground plans and
minor ornamental details that we find any considerable difference; and these matters
were effected by the presence of a proportion of limestone, and the proximity of the
rich civilization of the Djebel Riha to the northern district. The age of the ancient
monuments is practically the same here as in the Ala; for, though none of those
crude and massive structures for defense, which represent the earliest building efforts
in the cAla, are to be found here, the late Roman temple at Ma'aishurin (p. 94)
corresponds to a temple of about the same period at il-Habbat (p. 9), both belonging
to the end of the second or the beginning of the third century a.d., and the latest
buildings in both districts belong to approximately the same epoch, i.e. the latter part
of the sixth century. It may be said, however, that the dated inscriptions upon the
buildings described in this Part present a much fuller and more regular chronological
sequence; for the fourth and fifth centuries are far better represented in the buildings
of the northern district, but this is partly due to the fact that there is a larger number
of dated inscriptions.
The ruins of the city of il-Anderin are a perfect illustration of the class of ruins
described on pages 2 and 3 of the introduction to Part I of this section; for here
almost all the buildings were constructed in but small part of stone, the lower courses