DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45598#0050
86
II. B. 2.
to be offered on behalf of widows, orphans, etc. The piers of the arcade had or-
namented caps treated with mouldings of different profiles and bands of different patterns
(A and B, Ill. 94).
Two posts of the chancel rail are still in place and visible among the ruins. The
rail stands only 1.20 m. from the chancel arch, and there were apparently no piers,
or responds, at the end of the nave arcades. The posts are of the ordinary form with
horns at the four angles and with one side panelled and ornamented with grape-vine
and palm designs (C. Ill. 94).
The post at the south end of the rail bears a minute inscription 1 on one side,
which gives the date 429-30 A.D. In the east end of the north aisle wall there was
an arch which probably opened into a baptistery or chapel. The pier-caps of this
arch are lying in the opening: one of them is shown in illustration 94(D). Near
this arch is a fallen column with a capital of unusual form (Ill. 94, E); it is impossible
to say what purpose this column served. The buildings on the south side of the atrium
are to be traced only in ground-plan. There is a wide opening between two of the
buildings, and two monolithic piers stand just within it; I was unable to discover their
original arrangement. One column of a colonnade is still in place, and many others
lie in the courtyard. The details of the church, and of the whole group of buildings,
are of a higher order of workmanship than is common in the locality.
Lintel. In a rudely built stable in the centre of the modern village there is a
large lintel, broken at one end, which presents a form of decoration unknown elsewhere
in Syria (Ill. 95). It is 3 m. long and 52 cm. high. At the top is a shallow cavetto
I'djaz-Lintel
Ill. 95.
5cale-. 10cm=1M-
moulding, below which runs a heavy bead-and-reel which is carried down at the ends,
and describes a square about a disc in the centre of the lintel. Below the bead-and-
reel are two bands of ornament separated from each other by a narrow fascia and
cavetto; both bands are returned downward at the ends; below them is a plain surface
1 2 cm. wide. The uppermost band consists of a narrow fillet in relief, which describes
squares separated by groups of three circles, — a large circle between two small ones;
the larger circles are divided geometrically and have small diamonds at the centre.
Each of the squares contains the figure of a small animal, — a dog, a sheep, a goat,
1 Div. Ill, insc. 1005.
II. B. 2.
to be offered on behalf of widows, orphans, etc. The piers of the arcade had or-
namented caps treated with mouldings of different profiles and bands of different patterns
(A and B, Ill. 94).
Two posts of the chancel rail are still in place and visible among the ruins. The
rail stands only 1.20 m. from the chancel arch, and there were apparently no piers,
or responds, at the end of the nave arcades. The posts are of the ordinary form with
horns at the four angles and with one side panelled and ornamented with grape-vine
and palm designs (C. Ill. 94).
The post at the south end of the rail bears a minute inscription 1 on one side,
which gives the date 429-30 A.D. In the east end of the north aisle wall there was
an arch which probably opened into a baptistery or chapel. The pier-caps of this
arch are lying in the opening: one of them is shown in illustration 94(D). Near
this arch is a fallen column with a capital of unusual form (Ill. 94, E); it is impossible
to say what purpose this column served. The buildings on the south side of the atrium
are to be traced only in ground-plan. There is a wide opening between two of the
buildings, and two monolithic piers stand just within it; I was unable to discover their
original arrangement. One column of a colonnade is still in place, and many others
lie in the courtyard. The details of the church, and of the whole group of buildings,
are of a higher order of workmanship than is common in the locality.
Lintel. In a rudely built stable in the centre of the modern village there is a
large lintel, broken at one end, which presents a form of decoration unknown elsewhere
in Syria (Ill. 95). It is 3 m. long and 52 cm. high. At the top is a shallow cavetto
I'djaz-Lintel
Ill. 95.
5cale-. 10cm=1M-
moulding, below which runs a heavy bead-and-reel which is carried down at the ends,
and describes a square about a disc in the centre of the lintel. Below the bead-and-
reel are two bands of ornament separated from each other by a narrow fascia and
cavetto; both bands are returned downward at the ends; below them is a plain surface
1 2 cm. wide. The uppermost band consists of a narrow fillet in relief, which describes
squares separated by groups of three circles, — a large circle between two small ones;
the larger circles are divided geometrically and have small diamonds at the centre.
Each of the squares contains the figure of a small animal, — a dog, a sheep, a goat,
1 Div. Ill, insc. 1005.