DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45598#0040
y6
II. B. 2.
in a more complete state of dilapidation even than the former. Here the walls have
fallen inward as well as outward, filling the interior of the ground story, and almost
concealing the outer walls. Yet it is possible here to see the upper parts of a battering
wall and to measure the angle of its slope. This I have shown in elevation without
the surrounding mass of fallen building materials.
Domestic Architecture, 368-539 a.d. The private residences of Kerratin are of
many plans, all of which are based upon the plans of houses in the western mountains,
in which the residence occupies one side of a large walled court and the stables another.
Colonnades invariably extend across the front of the house, and often all around the
court-yard. The larger apartments were all provided with one or more girder-arches;
every house has a vestibule consisting of one or two arches with one rectangular door-
way. The houses were ordinarily of two stories. The methods of construction applied
were similar in principle to those of the Ala, and of the basaltic hills farther north;
but in Kerratin the construction is of a better class. The influence of the architecture
of the limestone hills to the west is quite evident in much of the construction as well
as in the plans and the decoration of buildings. Yet the walls are, without exception,
built of small blocks roughly quadrated on the exterior, and are double faced, with
square bonding stones carried through and slightly projecting. Colonnades, lintels and
jambs of doorways and windows, exterior and interior arches are all of large blocks
of highly finished basalt. The decoration employed in these buildings is an interesting
combination of the ornamental styles of the regions on both sides, — east and west.
cavetto, below this
a
a
torus, plain or carved with designs; the rest of
the surface is flat, ornamented with bands of
incised patterns in very low relief. The jambs
generally carry out the outer designs of the
lintels. Arches are treated in much the same
manner, and arches with bands of incised or-
nament are common in interiors as well as in
the vestibules. The capitals are in manifold
variations on the classic orders. The architraves
combine all three parts of the Classic entablature,
the lowest member consisting of two or three
fascias, the central member of a broad band of
incised designs, and the upper member of an
overhanging cyma recta. Many and beautiful
forms of candlesticks are found, executed in
high relief upon the drums of columns. These
appear to have been upon the columns that stood
on either side of a doorway. The top of each
candlestick is always large enough to support a
The incised decoration of flat surfaces, and the low relief inscriptions are here combined
with true mouldings. The lintels usually have a sort of hood-moulding, consisting of
a fascia and
\NSC-9/\ ■
Date-, scs/fi
A-D-
Kerratin-
Hovse N - T
z Arc h AN D Doorway
A ; of
Vestibvle-
it
Rf
' %•' -
X T. A
small lamp. Minor details of construction, plan and ornament will be brought out in the
descriptions of individual houses. The number of private residences is very great; I took
some measurements and notes on over thirty; but it will serve here to publish only eight,
all but one of which are dated. These will illustrate the chief types and different epochs.
II. B. 2.
in a more complete state of dilapidation even than the former. Here the walls have
fallen inward as well as outward, filling the interior of the ground story, and almost
concealing the outer walls. Yet it is possible here to see the upper parts of a battering
wall and to measure the angle of its slope. This I have shown in elevation without
the surrounding mass of fallen building materials.
Domestic Architecture, 368-539 a.d. The private residences of Kerratin are of
many plans, all of which are based upon the plans of houses in the western mountains,
in which the residence occupies one side of a large walled court and the stables another.
Colonnades invariably extend across the front of the house, and often all around the
court-yard. The larger apartments were all provided with one or more girder-arches;
every house has a vestibule consisting of one or two arches with one rectangular door-
way. The houses were ordinarily of two stories. The methods of construction applied
were similar in principle to those of the Ala, and of the basaltic hills farther north;
but in Kerratin the construction is of a better class. The influence of the architecture
of the limestone hills to the west is quite evident in much of the construction as well
as in the plans and the decoration of buildings. Yet the walls are, without exception,
built of small blocks roughly quadrated on the exterior, and are double faced, with
square bonding stones carried through and slightly projecting. Colonnades, lintels and
jambs of doorways and windows, exterior and interior arches are all of large blocks
of highly finished basalt. The decoration employed in these buildings is an interesting
combination of the ornamental styles of the regions on both sides, — east and west.
cavetto, below this
a
a
torus, plain or carved with designs; the rest of
the surface is flat, ornamented with bands of
incised patterns in very low relief. The jambs
generally carry out the outer designs of the
lintels. Arches are treated in much the same
manner, and arches with bands of incised or-
nament are common in interiors as well as in
the vestibules. The capitals are in manifold
variations on the classic orders. The architraves
combine all three parts of the Classic entablature,
the lowest member consisting of two or three
fascias, the central member of a broad band of
incised designs, and the upper member of an
overhanging cyma recta. Many and beautiful
forms of candlesticks are found, executed in
high relief upon the drums of columns. These
appear to have been upon the columns that stood
on either side of a doorway. The top of each
candlestick is always large enough to support a
The incised decoration of flat surfaces, and the low relief inscriptions are here combined
with true mouldings. The lintels usually have a sort of hood-moulding, consisting of
a fascia and
\NSC-9/\ ■
Date-, scs/fi
A-D-
Kerratin-
Hovse N - T
z Arc h AN D Doorway
A ; of
Vestibvle-
it
Rf
' %•' -
X T. A
small lamp. Minor details of construction, plan and ornament will be brought out in the
descriptions of individual houses. The number of private residences is very great; I took
some measurements and notes on over thirty; but it will serve here to publish only eight,
all but one of which are dated. These will illustrate the chief types and different epochs.